HARLES    SUMNER. 
not  M  tiie  C.i-vilRi9,htc  h;!l  fcjil' 


THE 


LIFE    AND    TIMES 


CHARLES  SUMNER 


IHS  BOYHOOD,  EDUCATION,  AND  PUBLIC  CAREER. 


BY    ELIAS    NASON. 

AUTHOR  OF  "  THE  LIFE  OF  THE  HON.  HENRY  WILSON,"  "  THE  GAZETTEEP 
OF  MASSACHUSETTS,"  AND  OTHER  WORKS. 


;  Justum  ct  tcnacem  propositi  virura, 
Non  civium  ardor  prava  jubentium, 
Non  vultus  instantis  tyranni, 
Mente  quatit  eolida." 

HOR.  CAR.,  Lib.  iii.  3. 


BOSTON: 
B.   B.   RUSSELL,  55   COENHILL. 

PHILADELPHIA:  QUAKER-CITY  PUBLISHING-HOUSE. 
DETROIT:  R.  D.  8.  TYLER. 

1874. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1874,  by 

B.  B.  RUSSELL, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


GIFT 
5«rh 


BOSTON  : 
RAND,  AVERY,  &  Co.,  STEREOTYPERS  AND  PRINTERS. 


TO  THE 


FRIENDS   OF   FREEDOM 


THIS  BIOGRAPHY  OF  A  CHAMPION  OF  HUMAN  RIGHTS 


JW603273 


PREFACE. 


THE  design  of  this  work  is  to  set  forth  in  distinct 
relief  the  life,  character,  and  public  career  of  an  accom 
plished  scholar,  an  incorruptible  statesman,  and  an  emi 
nent  and  eloquent  defender  of  human  freedom.  In  every 
age  men  have  arisen,  and,  by  the  force  of  an  original 
genius  and  a  lofty  aspiration,  have  come  to  stand  as 
heralds  in  the  fore-front  of  national  progress.  Their  high 
mission  has  been  to  point  with  a  prophetic  finger  to  the 
coming  issues  ;  to  sway  and  elevate  with  a  commanding 
eloquence  the  public  mind  ;  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the 
times  ;  and  to  pursue,  unterrified  by  power  and  above  the 
reach  of  bribery,  their  own  elected  course  with  an  un 
faltering  steadiness  to  the  end.  Such  was  the  dauntless 
John  Hampden  of  the  Long  Parliament  in  the  days  of 
Charles  the  First ;  such  was  the  patriot  Samuel  Adams 
in  our  Revolutionary  crisis  ;  such  was  the  golden- voiced 
Charles  Sumner  in  the  ordeal  from  which  we  now  are 
slowly  rising.  In  the  late  tremendous  struggle  for  human 
freedom  he  stood  forth  pre-eminent  as  a  prophet,  as  a 
leader,  as  a  counsellor,  as  an  unflinching  friend  of  the 
oppressed  ;  and  to  his  brave  outlook  over  the  whole  field 
of  contest,  to  his  extensive  knowledge  of  political  his- 


6  PREFACE. 

tory,  to  Ms  grand  ideal  of  a  perfect  commonwealth,  and 
to  his  impassioned  eloquence,  must  be  in  part  ascribed 
the  ardor  which  inspired  our  Union  army,  and  the  suc 
cess  which  crowned  the  contest.  Others  grandly  spoke 
and  fought  for  freedom  :  but  none  more  eloquently,  more 
learnedly,  more  effectively,  enunciated  its  eternal  principles 
than  he ;  nor  more  profoundly  and  persistently  instilled 
into  the  public  mind  its  justice,  grandeur,  and  necessity. 
The  life  of  such  a  man  is  therefore  a  lesson  and  an  in 
spiration.  It  will  ever  be  held  as  a  kind  of  beacon-light 
by  -the  avant-couriers  of  freedom,  not  only  in  America, 
but  throughout  the  world.  In  attempting  to  portray  it, 
I  shall  endeavor  to  be  guided  by  the  words  of  his  own 
favorite  Shakspeare :  — 

"Speak  of  me  as  I  am:  nothing  extenuate, 
Nor  set  down  aught  in  malice." 

As  often  as  practicable,  he  will  be  permitted  to  speak 
in  his  own  language ;  and  many  of  the  most  eloquent 
passages  from  his  ablest  orations  will  be  introduced.  It 
is  hoped  that  this  record,  the  materials  for  which  have 
been  drawn  from  the  most  reliable  sources,  may  prove 
acceptable  to  the  patriot,  the  scholar,  the  orator,  and 
the  friend  of  freedom  ;  that  it  may  serve  in  some  degree 
to  promote  the  principles  of  liberty,  fraternity,  and 
equality  among  men,  and  to  awaken  some  fresh  aspira 
tions  for  a  still  nobler  national  life  and  destiny.  The 
author  would  here  express  his  sincere  thanks  to  those 
personal  friends  of  Mr.  Sumner,  and  also  to  other  gen 
tlemen,  who  have  kindly  assisted  in  this  undertaking. 

BOSTON,  March  24,  1874. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

PAOB 

The  Sumner  Family.— Name  and  Origin.  —  Physical  Strength 
and  Intellectual  Energy.  —  Settlement  in  America.  —  Wil 
liam  and  Mary  Sunnier.  —  Gov.  Increase  Sumner.  —  Ances 
tral  Line  of  Charles  Sumner. — Major  Job  Sumner. —  Charles 
Pinckney  Sumner.  —  The  Birth  of  Charles  Sumner.  —  His 
Brothers  and  Sisters 11 

CHAPTER    II. 

Charles  Sumner  at  the  Boston  Latin  School.  —  His  Teachers, 
School-Books,  Studies,  and  Companions.  —  His  Standing.  — 
Two_Aiiecdptes  illustrative  of  his  Character.  —  "  Macte  Vir- 
tu'te."  —  Admission  to  Harvard  university.  —  His  Class 
mates.  —  His  Habits.  —  Personal  Appearance  and  Studies.  — 
Extracts  of  Letters  from  Classmates.  —  "  The  White  Vest). " 

—  Favorite    Authors.  —  Chum    and   Rooms.  —  Standing  at 
Graduation. — His  "Book" 22 

CHAPTER    III. 

Mr.  Sumner  on  leaving  College.  —  Private  Studies.  —  Opportuni 
ties  and  Preparations.  —  Spirit  of  the  Works  of  Genius.  — 
Daniel  Webster.  —  Mr.  Sumner  enters  the  Law  School.  — 
Method  of  Study. — Mr.  Justice  Story. — Mr.  Sumner's  Re,- 
gard  for  him.  —  His  Eloquent  Tribute  to  him.  —  His  Indebt 
edness  to  him.  — Mr.  Sumner  contributes  to  "The  American 
Jurist."  —  Studies  with  Benjamin  Rand,  Esq. — Regard  for 
the  Law  School. — Admission  to  the  Bar.  —  "Sumner's  Re 
ports." —  Lectures  to  Dane  Law  School. — Edits  Dunlap's 
^Admiralty  Practice."— Promise  as  a  Lawyer  .  .  .  37 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Mr.  Sumner  visits  Europe. — Chief -Justice  Story's  Letter. — 
Anecdote. — Mr.  Sumner's  Reception  in  England. — R.  M. 
Millies.  — Another  Letter  from  Judge  Story.  — Visit  to  Paris. 

—  Gen.  Lewis  Cass.  —  Art  Studies  in  Italy.  —  Glowing  De 
scription  of  the  Country. — Thomas  Crawford. — Anecdote 
concerning  Thomas  Aquinas.  — Acquaintances  in  Germany. 

—  Letter  from  Prescott. — Regard  for  Boston.  —  His  Home 
on  his  Return  from  Europe. — Lectures. — Edits  "Vesey's 
Reports."— Remarks  from  "The  Law  Reporter"  ...    48 

CHAPTER    V. 

The  steady  Increase  and  Arrogance  of  the  Slave  Power.  —  Mr. 
Garrison's  Efforts  to  resist  it.  —  Opprobrium  cast  upon  the 
Abolitionists.  — The  Annexation  of  Texas. — Mr.  Sumner's 
Vimv  nf  filavnrv  ]n  •••i'lifl  Vm»  ilranilHiir  ul  N ilUuiij. "  «-. 

•Compliments  of  Richard  Cobden,  Chief-Justice  Story,  and 


CONTENTS. 


Theodore  Parker.  —  Efforts  to  prevent  Final  Vote  on  An 
nexation  of  Texas.  —  Takes  open  Ground  against  Slavery.  — 
Preparation  for  his  Course.  —  His  Persistency  .  .  .01 

CHAPTER    VI. 

Mr.  Sumner's  Eulogy  on  Mr.  Justice  Story.  — His  Tribute  to  the 
.  Memory  of  John  Pickering.  —  Oration  before  the  Phi  Beta 
"ivappa  Society  of  Harvard  University.  —  Reference  to  Dr. 
Channing.  — Eloquent  Extract  from  the  Oration.  — Mr.  Sum 
ner's  Method  of  meeting  the  Slave  Power.  —  His  Compli 
ment  to  John  Q.  Adams.  — His  Apostrophe  to  Daniel  Web- 
ster.  —  Letter  to  R.  C.  Winthrop.  —  Distrust  of  the  Whig 
Party.  —  Argument  on  the  Validity  of  Enlistments.  —  Speech 
on  the  War. —  "White  Slavery  in  the  Barbarv  States."  — 
Interest  in  Prison  Discipline.  —  Oration  on  "Fame  and 
Glory."  —  Speech  in  Whig  Convention 74 

CHAPTER    VII. 

The  Formation  of  the  Free-soil  Party. —Defection  of  the  Whig 
Party. — Mr.  Sumuer's  Speech  announcing  his  Withdrawal 
from*  that  Party. — Aggressions  of  the  Slaveholding  Power. 

—  The  Duty  of  Massachusetts.  —  The  Commanding  Question. 

—  Mr.  Sumner's  Oration  on  "The  Law  of  Human  Progress." 

—  Greek  and  Roman  Civilization.  —  Power  of  the  Press. — 
Signs  of  Progress.  — Course  of  the  True  Reformer.  — Speech 
on  the  New  Party.  —  Opposition  to  his  Views.  —  Unity  of  Aim 
and  Advanced  Standing  of  Mr.  Sunnier  and  Mr.  Garrison    .    96 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

Mr.  Sumner's  Literary  Pursuits.  —  Political  Views.  —  Remarks 
on  Utopian  Ideas. — Position  defined. — Oration  before  the 
American  Peace  Society. — War  Pictures. — The  Free-soil 
Party.  —  Convention  at  Worcester.  — Address  to  the  Citizens 
of  Massachusetts.  —  Argument  in  respect  to  Colored  Scliools. 
Webster's  Subserviency  to  the  South.  —  Fugitive-Slave  Law. 

—  Demands  of  Free-soil  Party.  —  Future  Course  indicated. 

—  Death  of  his  Brother 115 

CHAPTER    IX. 

Mr.  Sumner's  Election  to  the  United-States  Senate.  —He  makes 
no  Pledges.  —  The  Turning  Vote.  —  Opinion  of  the  Press.  — 
Letter  to  Mr.  Wilson.  —Letter  of  Mr.  Whittier.  —Mr.  Sum 
ner's  Acceptance  of  his  Office. — Description  of  his  Person. — 
Letters  to  Theodore  Parker.  — Entrance  to  the  Senate.  —  His 
Rooms  and  Company.  —  The  Ordeal  before  him.  —  His  Speech 
on  Kossuth.  —  On  the  Iowa  Railroad  Bill.  — Letter  to  Theo 
dore  Parker.  —  Cheap  Ocean  Postage.  —  A  Memorial  of  the 
Society  of  Friends. — Tribute  to  Robert  Rantoul,  jnn. — 
Speech  on  the  Fugitive-Slave  Bill.  —  Freedom  of  Speech.  — 

—  Slavery  Sectional,  Freedom  National.  —  Spirit  of  our  Lit 
erature  against  Slavery 138 

CHAPTER    X. 

Mr.  Sumner's  Tribute  to  Mr.  Downing.  —  His  Speech  at  Lowell. 

—  His  Speech  respecting  Armories.  —  Mr.  Su inner  as  a  Cor 
respondent.  —  His  Letters.  —  The  Pacific  Railroad.  —  Secret 


CONTENTS. 


Sessions  of  the  Senate.  —His  Election  to  Massachusetts  Con 
stitutional  Convention,  1853.  — His  Speech  on  Military  Af 
fairs.  —  On  the  Basis  of  Representation.  —  On  the  Bill  of 
Bights.  —  "  A  Finger  Point  from  Plymouth  Rock."  —Reply 
to  Mr.  Douglas. — A  Day  of  Trial.  —  "Landmark  of  Free 
dom."  —  Importance  of  the  Question  at  Issue.  — Iniquity  of 
Slave  System.  —  Plea  for  Missouri  Compromise.  —  Future 
of  Anti-Slavery  Cause.  —  Speech  on  Passage  of  Kansas  and 
Nebraska  Bill.  —  Defence  of  Clergy.—  Life  in  Peril  .  .  lift 

CHAPTER    XI. 

The  Persistent  Course  of  Mr.  Sumner.  —  Petition  of  the  Citizens 
of  •RnQtrm  —  f>Twi»7nTmtj.On  of  the  Fnmtlvft-Rlave  Bill.  — 
TWmip.fl  of  Mfl.ss3nTmg*>t.ta  —  Violent  Opposition.  —  Opinions 
oF  Messrs.  Chase,  Giddings,  Andrew,  and  Charming.  —  A 
Tribute  from  Whittier.  —  A  Specimen  of  Senatorial  Tactics. 

—  Aiiti- Slavery  Sentiment  Extending. — Formation  of  the 
Republican  Party. — Mr.   Sumner' s  Reception  and  Speech 
at  Worcester.  —  Tyranny  of  the  Slave-Power.  —  Backbone 
needed.  —  The  American  Merchant.  —  Position  and  Out-look. 
Plan  of  Emancipation.  —  Spread  of  Anti-Slavery  Sentiment. 

—  The  American  Party        . 187 

CHAPTER    XII. 

Struggles  in  Kansas.  —  Excitement  through  the  Country  and  in 
Congress.  —  Remarks  of  Mr.  Sumner  on  the  Reports  of 
Messrs.  Douglas  and  Collamer.  —  His  Speech  on  the  Admis 
sion  of  Kansas.  —  The  Exordium.  —  Reference  to  Mr.  Doug 
las.  —  Nebraska  Bill  a  Swindle.  —  Defence  of  Massachusetts. 

—  Assault  on  Mr.  Sumner. — Effect  of  this  Assault  on  the 
North  and  South. —Mr.  Sumner  at  Cape  May;  at  Cresson; 

at  Philadelphia 211 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

The  Reception  of  Mr.  Sumner  at  Boston.  —  His  Remarks  on  the 
Occasion.  —  His  Health  Precarious.  —  His  Letters  evincing 
his  Interest  in  Kansas.  —  Re-election  to  the  United-States 
Senate.  —  His  Remarks  thereon.  —  Visits  Europe.  —  He  de 
clines  a  Public  Dinner  in  Paris.  — Letter  from  Heidelberg.  — 
Anxiety  to  return  to  his  Official  Duties.  —  A  Third  Visit  to 
Europe.  — Letter  on  Leaving.  — Diagnosis  and  Treatment  of 
his  Disease.  —  Fortitude.  —  Life  at  Montpellier.  —  Return  to 
United  States.  —  Again  in  the  Senate.  —  Sharp  Reply  to  Mr. 
Mason.  —  John  Brown  and  Mr.  Sumner' s  Coat  .  .  .233 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

Mr.  Sumner  represents  the  Spirit  of  the  North. —  "The  Crime 
against  Kansas." — Exordium. — Analysis  of  the  Speech. — 
Slave  Masters.  —  Freedom  of  Speech.  —  William  Lloyd  Gar 
rison.  —  By  Nature  every  Man  is  Free.  —  Property  in  Man 
not  recognized  by  the  Constitution.  —  Closing  Words.  —  Re 
marks  of  Mr.  Chestnut.  — Mr.  Sumner's  Reply.  — Reception 
of  his  Speech  by  the  Piiblic  Press. —  Personal  Violence  at 
tempted.  —  Resolutions  of  Massachusetts  Legislature.  — 
Nomination  of  Presidential  Candidates,  18<>0.  —  Speeches  at 
Cooper  Institute,  Worcester,  and  other  Places  .  .  .252 


10  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

Character  of  the  Southern  People.  —  Preparations  for  Secession. 
—  Letter  of  Andrew  Jackson.  —  Firmness  of  Mr.  Sunmer.  — 
Extract  from  his  Letters.  —  Mr.  Lincoln's  Inaugural.  —  Mj:. 
pp^vitifld  Chau-man  of  the  CormnlfctoA  nn 
—  His  Influence  with  Mr.  Lincoln.  —  His 


assage 
through  Baltimore.  —  A_St.P.a^ly  Friend  of  j-,h»  ftolored^Racfl. 

—  Speech  at  Worcester.  —  Advocates  Emancipation.  —  Trib 
ute  to  Col.  E.  D.  Baker.  —  Speech  on  the  Trent  Affair.  — 
Resolutions  for  Emancipation.  —  Abolition  of  Slavery  in  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia.  —  Hayti  and  Liberia.  —  Confiscation  and 
Liberation.  —  Proclamation  of  Emancipation.  —  Its  Effect    .  270 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

Re-election  to  thftfU«ifl.te  >.  —  -Introduces  various  Bills.  —  Activity. 
Address  on  Foreign  Relations.  —  Poetical  j-riDnre.  —  Franklin 
and  Slidell.  —Taste  for  Literary  Curiosities.  —  Speech  on  the 
Constitutional  Amendment.  —  Freedmen's-Bureau  Bill.  — 
Friendly  Bfllattons  with  Mr'T,|np.nin  —  Snr.p.Pga  of  the  Union 
Arms.  —  Death  or  Mr.  Lincoln.  —  Mr.  Sumner's  Eulogy  .284 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

Reconstruction.  —  Efforts  on  Behalf  of  the  Freedmen.  —  Remarks 
on  the  "Equality  Bill."  —  On  the  Fourteenth  Amendment. 

—  Opposition  to  Compromise.  —  Plea  for  the  Elective  Fran 
chise.  —  Death  and  Character  of  his  Mother.  —  Hia  Marriage 


#,nd  Divorce.  —  On  naming  Children.  —  Suffrage"  for  Colon 
PeopIe~aTTne  North.  —  Rupture  between  the  President  and 
Congress.  —  Removal  of  Mr.  Stan  ton.  —  Impeachment  of  the 
President.  —  Letter  to  Mr.  Stanton.  —  Equal  Suffrage.  — 
Alabama  Claims.  —  The  Cubans.  —  Dominican  Treaty.  — 
Rupture  with  Gen.  Grant.  —  Speech  on  San  Domingo  .  .  301 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 


Thft  Supplementary  Civil-TMt/hta  p^n  _  Tetter  on  the  San-Do 
mingo  Affair.  —  1  one  of  his  Criticisms  on  the  Administration. 

—  His  Illness.  —  His  View  of  the  Republican  arid  Democratic 
Parties.  —  Support  of  Mr.  Greeley.  —  Reception  in  Boston. 

—  Visit  to  Europe.  —  .N  ollllliiuluil  as  Governor  of  Massachu 
setts.  —  Resolutions  on  the  Battle-Flags.  —  His  Desire  to  raise 
Money  by  Lecturing.  —  Last  Visit  to  Boston.  —  Declining 

^Hft^Tth.  —  Last  Labors  in  Congress.  —  Recision  of  theCen^ 
sure  tor  his  Resolution  on  the  Battle-Flags      ....  322 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

Mr.  Sumner's  House  at  Washington.  —  His  Love  of  Art.  —  Last 
pjoimpflfl  an(i  Death.  —  Obsequies  at  Washington.  —  Meeting 
of  the  General  Court.  —  Meeting  at  Faneuil  Hall.  —  Remains 
at  the  Doric  Hall.  —  Services  at  King's  Chapel.  —  At  Mount 
Auburn.  —  Personal  Appearance^  —  Religious  Views.  — 
Works.  —  Style.  —  integrity.—  Consistency.  —  Statesmanship 
and  Learning:  —  *aine  .  —  .  -  r~  I  -  :  -  ^  .  .  334 

APPENDIX. 
Mi*.  SUMNER'S  WILL         ......        ...    853 

EPITAPH  ........        ...  356 


THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 


OP 


CHARLES    SUMNER 


CHAPTER  I. 


The  Simmer  Family.  —Name  and  Origin.  —  Physical  Strength  and 
Intellectual  Energy.  —  Settlement  in  America.  —  William  and 
Mary  Sumner.  —  Gov.  Increase  Sumner.  —  Ancestral  Line  of 
Charles  Sumner.  —  Major  Job  Sumner.  —  Charles  Pinckney  Sum 
ner.— The  Birth  of  Charles  Sumner.  —  His  Brothers  and  Sisters. 

"  Nothing  is  more  shameful  for  a  man  than  to  found  his  title  to  esteem,  not 
on  his  own  merits,  but  on  the  fame  of  his  ancestors.  The  glory  of  the  fathers  is 
doubtless  to  their  children  a  most  precious  treasure ;  hut  to  enjoy  it  without 
transmitting  it  to  the  next  generation,  and  without  adding  to  it  yourselves, — 
this  is  the  height  of  imbecility."—  The  True  Grandeur  of  Nations,  by  CHARLES 
SUMNER. 

HE  Sumner  family  *  is  one  of  the  most  ancient 
and  respectable  of  New  England.  The  name 
Sumner  is  said  to  have  been  originally  Som- 


*  See 
Boston  :  1854. 


of  the  Siunner  Family,  by  William  B.  Trask. 

11 


12  LIFE  AND  TIMES. 

moner,  or  Somner,  given  to  one  whose  office  was  to 
summon  parties  into  court.  The  family  has  long  been 
noted  for  its  physical  strength  and  intellectual 
energy  ;  and  from  it  have  sprung  many  men  of  mark 
and  influence.  The  name  is  frequently  met  with  in 
the  college  catalogues,  and  in  the  early  archives  of  the 
Commonwealth.  The  American  head  of  the  family 
was  WILLIAM  STJMNEK,  who,  with  his  wife  Mary  and 
three  sons,  —  William,  Roger,  and  George,  —  came 
from  Bicester,  Oxfordshire,  Eng.,  and  settled  in  Dor 
chester,  Mass.,  anterior  to  1637.  The  country  now 
covered  with  highly-cultivated  farms  and  gardens, 
and  decorated  with  handsome  villas  and  imposing 
mansions,  was  at  that  period  a  wilderness,  the  dreary 
abode  of  prowling  beasts  and  savages.  With  the 
other  colonists,  William  Sumner  bravely  met  the 
dangers  and  endured  the  hardships  of  the  new 
settlement,  and  bore  a  prominent  part  in  laying  the 
foundation  of  the  important  town  of  Dorchester. 
He  was  made  a  freeman  in  1637,  and  for  twelve 
years  was  elected  as  a  deputy  to  the  General  Court. 
In  1663  he  was  chosen  "  clerk  of  ye  training 
band  ;  "  and  in  September,  1675,  was  on  a  jury  for  a 
trial  "of  ye  Indians  in  Boston."  The  old  portraits 
of  William  and  Mary  Sumner,  surmounted  with  the 
family  coat  of  arms  and  insignia,  and  bearing  date 
of  1623,  were  kept  until  within  a  few  years  by  one 


OF  CHAKLES  SUMNEK.  13 

branch  of  the  family,  when  they  fell  "  to  shreds 
under  the  hand  of  Time." 

From  William,  the  original  settler,  through  his  son 
William,  grandson  George,  great-grandson  Edward, 
and  great-great-grandson  Increase  (noted  for  his 
colossal  size  and  herculean  strength),  was  descended 
Gov.  Increase  Sumner,  a  man  of  commanding  pres 
ence  and  of  vigorous  intellect,  who  was  born  in  Rox- 
bury,  Nov.  27,  1746  ;  graduated  at  Harvard  College 
in  1767  ;  and  succeeded  Samuel  Adams  as  governor 
of  the  State  in  1797.  In  reference  to  his  stately 
bearing,  as  contrasted  with  the  decrepitude  of  his 
predecessor,  an  old  apple-woman  said,  on  seeing  him 
pass  at  the  head  of  the  legislature  from  the  Old 
South  Church,  "  Thank  God  !  we  have  got  a  gov 
ernor  that  can  walk,  at  last."  Among  the  many 
honest  and  characteristic  declarations  which  he 
made,  the  following  seems  to  have  been  a  guide,  not 
only  to  his  own,  but  to  the  political  course  of  other 
members  of  the  Sumner  family :  — 

"  The  man  who,  regardless  of  public  happiness,  is 
ready  to  fall  in  with  base  measures,  and  sacrifices 
conscience,  honor,  and  his  country,  merely  for  his 
own  advancement,  must  (if  not  wretchedly  hard 
ened)  feel  a  torture,  the  intenseness  of  which 
nothing  in  this  world  can  equal." 

Roger  Sumner,  second  son  of  the  original  settlers 


14  LIFE   AND  TIMES. 

William  and  Mary  Sumner,  early  removed  to  Lan 
caster  with  other  Christians  for  "  the  gathering  of  a 
church."  Remaining  there  until  the  town  was  de 
stroyed  by  the  Indians,  he  returned  to  Milton,  where 
he  died  May  26,  1698.  His  son  William,  it  is  sup 
posed,  married  Esther  Puffer  of  Dorchester,  Jan.  2, 
1697,  and  had,  inter  olios,  Seth,  born  Dec.  15,  1710  ; 
and  married  for  his  second  wife  Lydia  Badcock  in 
1742.  He  was  the  father  of  thirteen  children; 
among  whom  Job,  the  fifth  son,  born  April  23,  1754, 
graduated  at  Harvard  College-  in  1778,  and  became  a 
major  in  the  Massachusetts  line  of  the  army  of  the 
Revolution.  He  was  a  man  of  ability,  "sustained 
the  reputation  of  an  attentive  and  intelligent  offi 
cer,"  and  died  from  being  poisoned  "  by  eating  of  a 
dolphin,"  Sept.  16,  1789;  leaving  a  son  Job,  who  was 
born  at  Milton  Jan.  20,  and  baptized  March  17, 1776. 
His  name  was  subsequently  changed  to  Charles 
Pinckney.  He  was  educated  at  Harvard,  and  pos 
sessed  considerable  poetic  ability.  At  his  gradua 
tion  he  deli vered  a  commencement-poem  on  "  Time," 
together  with  a  valedictory  class-poem,  both  of  which 
possess  some  degree  of  merit,  and  are  still  preserved. 
In  the  last  year  of  his  collegiate  course  he  published 
a  poem  entitled  "  The  Compass,"  in  which  occurs  a 
quatrain  that  seems  to  indicate,  to  some  extent,  the 
leading  idea,  the  aspiration,  and  the  effective  life- 
work,  of  his  illustrious  son. 


OF   CHAELES   SUMNER.  15 

"  More  true  inspired,  we  antedate  the  time 

When  futile  war  shall  cease  through  every  clime ; 
No  sanctioned  slavery  Afric's  sons  degrade, 
But  equal  rights  shall  equal  earth  pervade." 

Mr.  Sumner  studied  law,  was  admitted  to  the  bar, 
was  several  years  elected  clerk  of  the  General  Court, 
and  in  1825  was  appointed  to  the  office  of  sheriff  of 
Suffolk  County.  In  this  position  he  remained  until 
his  decease,  which  occurred  on  the  twenty-fourth  day 
of  April,  1839.  "  He  was  the  last  high  sheriff  who 
retained  the  antique  dress  derived  from  English 
usage."  He  was  a  gentleman  of  the  old  school,  —  tall, 
well-bred,  and  dignified  in  demeanor,  fond  of  read 
ing,  and  of  considerable  oratorical  ability.  He  de 
livered  an  appropriate  eulogy  on  Washington  at 
Milton,  Feb.  22,  1800  ;  and  a  Fourth-of-July  oration 
in  Boston  in  1808.  He  was  highly  esteemed  for  the 
integrity  and  independence  of  his  character.  Mr. 
Surnner  married  Miss  Relief,  daughter  of  David  *  and 
Hannah  (Hersey)  Jacobs  of  Hanover,  April  25, 1810, 
—  a  lady  of  strong  mind,  of  an  amiable  disposition, 

*  He  was  the  son  of  David  and  Hannah  (Richmond)  Jacobs  of 
Hanover.  He  served  as  one  of  the  committee  of  safety  during  the 
Revolution  ;  and  died  in  1808,  aged  79  years.  He  was  the  son  of 
Joshua  Jacohs  of  Scituate,  who  married  Mary  James  in  1726.  His 
father  was  David  Jacobs,  who  settled  in  Scituate  as  early  as  1688, 
and  was  a  schoolmaster,  and  a  deacon  in  the  church. 


16  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

and  of  graceful  bearing.  They  resided  in  Hancock 
Street,  and  were  attendants  of  King's  Chapel,  of 
which  Mr.  Sumner  was  for  some  time  the  clerk,  and 
of  which  the  Rev.  James  Freeman,  D.D.,  the  Rev. 
F.  W.  P.  Greenwood,  D.D.,  and  afterwards  the  Rev. 
Ephraim  Peabody,  D.D.,  were  the  eloquent  pastors. 
CHAKLES  SUMNER,  whose  name  is  intimately  asso 
ciated  with  the  stirring  political  events  as  well  as  with 
the  literature  of  the  country  for  the  last  thirty  years, 
and  whose  life  and  public  services  this  work  is  intend 
ed  to  commemorate,  was  the  oldest  son  of  Charles 
Pinckney  and  Relief  (Jacobs)  Sumner,  and  was  born 
in  May  (now  Revere)  Street,  Boston,  on  the  sixth 
day  of  January,  1811.  The  site  of  his  birth-place 
is  now  occupied  by  the  Bowdoin  Schoolhouse.  His 
father  subsequently  removed  to  the  plain,  unosten 
tatious,  four-story  brick  building,  No.  20,  Hancock 
Street,  which  was  for  a  long  period  the  home  of  the 
family.  The  house,  of  which  a  good  view  is  here 
given,  fronts  toward  the  west,  and  stands  on  an  eligi 
ble  site  about  half  way  down  the  declivity  of  the 
street.  It  is  now  occupied  by  the  Hon.  Thomas 
Russell,  late  Collector  of  the  port  of  Boston,  and 
contains  many  interesting  mementoes  of  the  Sumner 
family,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  old 
mahogany  writing-desk  on  whose  tablet  the  eloquent 
senator  penned  many  of  those  pregnant  sentences 


THE    EARLY    HOME    OF    CHARLES    SUMNER, 

No.  20  HANCOCK  ST.,  BOSTON. 
Now  the  Residence  of  the  Hon.  Thomas  Russell. 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  17 

which  moved  to  its  profoundest   chambers  the  free 
spirit  of  the  nation. 

The  other  children  of  Charles  Pinckney  and  Relief 
Sumner  were,  —  MATILDA,  twin-sister  of  Charles :  she 
was  slender  and  fragile  in  person,  and  modest  and 
retiring  in  manner.  She  died  of  consumption,  March 
6,  1832,  and  is  buried  at  Mount  Auburn.  ALBERT, 
born  Aug.  31,  1812 :  he  became  a  sea-captain,  mar 
ried  Mrs.  Barclay  of  New  York,  and  was  drowned,  to 
gether  with  his  wife  and  only  daughter  KATE,  an  in 
teresting  girl  about  fourteen  years  old,  on  their  way 
to  France,  whither  the  parents  were  going  for  the 
sake  of  their  daughter's  health.  HENRY,  born 
Nov.  22,  1814,  married  and  died  in  Orange,  N.J. 
GEORGE,  born  Feb.  5,  1817,  who  became  a  traveller, 
scholar,  and  author,  and  died  in  Boston  Oct.  6, 
1863.  JANE,  born  April  28,  1820,  a  very  lovely 
girl  :  she  died  of  spinal  disease,  Oct.  7,  1837. 
MARY,  born  April  28,  1822,  and  died  unmarried. 
HORACE,  born  Dec.  25,  1824,  and  was  lost  by  the 
wreck  of  the  ship  "  Elizabeth  "  on  Fire  Island,  July 
16,  1850.  And  JULIA,  born  May  5, 1827,  and  now 
the  wife  of  John  Hastings,  M.D.,  of  San  Francisco. 
They  have  three  children,  —  ALICE,  EDITH,  and 
JULIA.  Mrs.  Relief,  widow  of  Charles  Pinckney 
Sumner,  was  born  Feb.  29,  1785,  died  of  con 
sumption,  in  Boston,  June,  1866,  and  is  buried  be- 


18  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

side  her  husband  in  the  family  enclosure  in  Mount 
Auburn. 

Charles  Sumner  came  into  life  under  favorable 
auspices.  He  was  of  the  vigorous  and  healthful 
Puritan  stock :  his  father  was  a  gentleman  of  educa 
tion  and  of  courtly  manners,  his  mother  a  lady  of  re 
markable  good  sense  and  benevolence.  They  were 
both  emulous,  and  thoy  had  the  means,  to  give  a 
sound  and  accomplished  education  to  their  children. 
The  tuition  of  Charles  was  at  first  confided  to  his 
aunt,  Miss  Hannah  Richmond  Jacobs,*  who  long 
taught  a  private  school  on  Beacon  Hill,  Boston,  and 
who  is  still  living  in  Hanover  at  the  advanced  age 
of  ninety-one  years. 

He  was  a  bright-eyed,  obedient,  and  well-behaved 
boy,  of  tall  and  slender  form,  and  quick  of  appre 
hension.  He  began  to  ascend  the  ladder  of  learning 

*  This  lady,  whom  I  visited  in  March,  1874,  still  retains  her  f  acui 
ties,  arid  writes  a  fair  and  handsome  hand.  She  has  knit  four  pairs 
of  worsted  stockings  since  Christmas  last.  She  is  tall  and  slender  in 
form,  correct  and  animated  in  speech,  and  very  bright  for  a  person 
of  her  age.  She  early  went  to  live  in  Boston  with  her  sister  Belief, 
who  "boarded  in  the  same  family  with  Mr.  Charles  Pinckney  Sum 
ner,  where  an  acquaintance  was  formed  which  eventuated  in  mar 
riage.  Her  sister  Matilda  was  the  second  wife  of  Deacon  Galen 
James  of  Medford.  Miss  Hannah  Richmond  Jacobs  speaks  of 
Charles  Sumner  as  an  obedient,  studious,  and  promising  pupil,  very 
fond  of  reading  and  of  repeating  speeches,  and  a*j  having  been  uni 
formly  kind  to  her  through  life.  In  his  will  he  remembered  her 
by  a  life-annuity  of  $500. 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  19 

by  the  study  of  Perry's  Spelling-book  and  "  The 
Child's  Assistant ;  "  and,  with  his  twin-sister  Matilda, 
was  soon  initiated  into  the  elements  of  arithmetic, 
grammar,  and  geography.  " The  Columbian  Orator" 
of  Mr.  Caleb  Bingham,  then  a  popular  school-book 
in  Boston  and  vicinity,  gave  him  great  delight.  He 
early  became  an  excellent  reader ;  and  his  speech,  as 
might  be  well  inferred  from  the  influences  of  a  home 
of  culture,  was  naturally  correct  and  easy.  The  elo 
quent  Dr.  James  Freeman  was  his  early  pastor,  and, 
with  other  learned  gentlemen,  a  frequent  visitor  at 
the  Sumner  house,  which  was  then,  as  afterwards, 
the  centre  of  an  intellectual  and  refined  society.  In 
accordance  with  Juvenal's  idea,*  the  courteous  father 
of  Charles  Sumner  entertained  great  reverence  for 
boys,  and  most  assiduously  instructed  his  children, 
not  only  in  respect  to  a  polite  behavior  and  the  laws 
of  health,  but  also  in  regard  to  the  use  of  the  most 
appropriate  forms  of  speech ;  so  that  the  training  of 
his  first-born  son  to  the  art  of  oratory  might  almost 
be  said  to  have  commenced  with  infancy. 

It  is  felicitous  that  the  earliest  words  which  greet 
the  ears  of  children  are  correctly  spoken.  The 
mother's  tongue  is  the  child's  first  grammar.  To  the 
care  which  his  parents,  his  pastor,  and  his  teacher 

*  "  Maxima  debetur  puero  reverentia."  — Lib.  5,  Sat.  14. 


20  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

bestowed  upon  his  speech  in  his  young  life,  some 
thing  of  that  elegance  of  diction  and  that  copia  ver- 
borum  for  which  Charles  Sumner  subsequently  be 
came  distinguished  is  no  doubt  attributable. 

In  his  boyhood  he  was  agile,  healthful,  hopeful, 
and  obliging ;  yet  ever  more  intent  on  reading  and 
improvement  than  on  boisterous  sport  and  pastime. 
He  was  sent  to  the  dancing-school;  yet  for  this 
amusement  he  had  but  little  inclination.  Occasional 
ly  he  attended  his  father  in  his  visits  to  the  court-room, 
and  listened  with  juvenile  curiosity  to  the  arguments 
of  the  bar :  now  and  then  he  sent  his  mimic  boat 
across  Frog  Pond,  his  paper  kite  over  the  Capitol, 
coasted  down  the  slopes  of  Beacon  Hill,  or  spent  a 
few  days  on  a  visit  to  his  mother's  early  home  in 
Hanover,  where,  instead  of  working  with  the  boys 
upon  the  farm,  he  preferred  to  "  speak  his  pieces ' 
in  the  barn  or  the  old  pine  grove.*  Yet  his  time 
was  mostly  passed  in  his  father's  family,  or  in  his 
aunt  Hannah's  school-room,  steadily  pursuing  the  ele 
ments  of  learning  under  the  severe  and  rigid  disci 
pline  of  that  period.  It  was,  however,  noted  even 

*  The  old  homestead  of  his  grandfather  David  Jacobs,  and  the 
birth-place  of  his  mother,  is  in  that  part  of  Hanover  called  Assinippi, 
and  is  now  the  residence  of  the  Hon.  Perez  Simmons.  An  air  of 
quiet  and  comfort  pervades  the  place. 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  21 

at  this  time  that  he  had  an  aspiration ;  and  a  boy 
with  an  aspiration  is  sent  into  the  world  for  some 
high  purpose.  He  had  also  a  decided  will ;  and 
where  there  is  a  will  there  is  a  way. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Charles  Suxnner  at  the  Boston  Latin  School.  —  His  Teachers,  School- 
books,  Studies,  and  Companions. —His  Standing. —Two  Anec 
dotes  illustrative  of  his  Character.  —  "  Macte  Virtu te."  —  Admis 
sion -to  Harvard  University.  —His  Classmates.  —His  Habits. — 
Personal  Appearance  and  Studies  in  College. —  Extracts  of  Letters 
from  his  Classmates.  —  " The  White  Vest."—  His  Fondness  for 
Beading,  and  his  Favorite  Authors.  —  His  Chum  and  Booms  in 
College.  —  An  Anecdote.  —  His  Standing  at  Graduation.  —  His 
"Book." 

•'  What  manner  of  child  shall  this  bo  ?  " 

ST.  LUKE. 

"  And  like  a  silver  clarion  rung 
The  accents  of  that  unknown  tongue,  — 
« Excelsior  1'" 

H.  W.  LONGFELLOW 

|T  the  age  of  ten  years,  Charles  Sumner 
was  found  qualified  to  enter  the  Boston 
Latin  School,  then  under  the  charge  of  the 
accomplished  classical  scholar  Benjamin  A.  Gould, 
and  noted,  as  at  present,  for  its  thorough  and  persist 
ent  drill  in  the  inceptive  classical  studies.  Here 
the  tall  and  slender  lad  applied  himself  closely  to  his 
lessons;  studying  Adam's  Latin  Grammar  (which 
Mr.  Gould  edited  with  abiHty),  the  Gloucester  Greek 


CHARLES   SUMNER.  23 

Grammar,  Euler's  Algebra,  Home  Tooke's  Pantheon, 
Irving's  Catechism,  and  reading  Cornelius  Nepos, 
Sallust,  Csesar,  Cicero,  and  Virgil;  together  with 
Jacobs's  Greek  Reader,  Mattaire's  Homer,  and  other 
books  preparatory  to  admission  to  Harvard  College. 
The  late  Joseph  Palmer,  M.D.,  was  an  assistant 
instructor  in  the  school,  but  was  not  then  conscious 
that  he  was  moulding  the  spirit  of  one  whom  he  was 
afterwards  to  greet  as  the  leading  speaker  on  behalf 
of  freedom  in  America.  Among  his  school  compan 
ions  at  this  period  were  George  T.  Bigelow,  Robert 
C.  Winthrop,  George  S.  Hillard,  James  Freeman 
Clarke,  Thomas  B.  Fox,  William  H.  Channing, 
Samuel  F.  Smith  the  poet,  and  others  who  have  since 
attained  celebrity.  Although  Charles  Sumner  did 
not  hold  the  highest  rank  in  scholarship  on  the  ap 
pointed  lessons  of  his  class,  he  was  distinguished  for 
the  accuracy  of  his  translations  from  the  Latin  clas 
sics,  and  for  the  brilliancy  of  his  own  original  com 
positions.  He  received  in  1824  the  third  prize  for  a 
translation  from  Sallust ;  when  one  of  the  examiners 
remarked,  "If  he  does  this  when  a  boy,  what 
may  we  not  expect  of  him  when  a  man  ? "  Two 
years  later  he  obtained  a  prize  for  a  theme  in  English 
prose,  and  also  another  for  a  Latin  poem.  On  gradu 
ating  he  was  honored  with  the  Franklin  Medal.  He 
is  remembered  by  his  schoolfellows  at  this  period  as 


24  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

being  kind-hearted,  thoughtful,  courteous,  though 
exhibiting  some  slight  consciousness  of  "being  to 
the  manor  born."  This  last  trait  in  his  character 
sometimes  drew  a  smile  from  the  members  of  his 
family.  On  his  lying  in  bed  one  morning  until  after 
the  household  had  breakfasted,  his  mother  rather 
sharply  said  to  him  as  he  came  down,  "  Why  so  late 
this  morning,  Charles  ? "  "  Call  me  Mr.  Sumner, 
mother,  if  you  please,"  said  he,  as  if  his  dignity 
were  offended ;  and  so  the  point  of  the  rebuke  was 
broken. 

Another  anecdote  exhibits  the  purity  of  his  spirit 
at  this  period.  A  certain  lady  nearly  of  his  own 
age  was  wont  to  meet  him  frequently  on  his  way  to 
school ;  when  he  would  always  greet  her  cheerfully 
with  the  salutation,  "  Good  morning !  Macte 
Virtute"  (follow  virtue),  as  if  this  saying  were 
his  creed.  Whenever  in  after  life  she  heard  his 
name,  this  salutation  came  to  her  impressively, 
knowing  as  she  did  the  strict  integrity  of  his  life. 

He  continued  five  years  at  the  Latin  School ;  when, 
at  the  age  of  fifteen,  he  was  found  well  prepared  for 
entering  Harvard  College,  whose  terms  of  admission 
were  somewhat  less  exacting  than  at  present. 

In  the  year  1826  he  commenced  his  studies  in  the 
classic  halls  of  Cambridge.  Among  his  classmates 
were,  Thomas  C.  Ainory,  Jonathan  W.  Bemis,  James 


OF  CHABLES   SUMNER.  25 

Dana,  Samuel  M.  Emery,  John  B.  Kerr,  Elisha  R. 
Potter,  Jonathan  F.  Stearns,  George  W.  Warren,  and 
Samuel  T.  Worcester.  The  accomplished  John  T. 
Kirkland  was  president  of  the  university ;  and 
among  the  instructors  were  Edward  T.  Channing 
in  rhetoric,  Levi  Hedge  in  logic,  George  Otis  in 
Latin,  John  S.  Popkin  in  Greek,  George  Ticknor 
in  modem  languages,  and  John  Farrar  in  natural 
science.  His  room  during  his  first  year  was  No.  17, 
Stoughton  Hall.  In  person  he  was  at  that  time 
unusually  tall  for  a  youth  of  fifteen  summers ; 
and,  though  one  of  the  six  youngest  of  his 
class  of  forty-eight,  he  stood  among  his  fellows  in 
respect  to  height  conspicuous.  "  When  he  entered 
college,"  one  of  his  classmates  writes  to  me,  "  he 
was  tall,  thin,  and  somewhat  awkward.  He  had  but 
little  inclination  for  engaging  in  sports  or  games, 
such  as  kicking  football  on  the  Delta,  which  the 
other  students  were  in  almost  the  daily  habit  of  en 
joying.  He  rarely  went  out  to  take  a  walk ;  and 
almost  the  only  exercise  in  which  he  engaged  was 
going  on  foot  to  Boston  on  Saturday  afternoon,  and 
then  returning  in  the  evening.  He  had  a  remarka 
ble  fondness  for  reading  the  dramas  of  Shakspeare, 
the  works  of  Walter  Scott,  together  with  reviews 
and  magazines  of  the  higher  class.  He  remembered 
what  he  read,  and  quoted  passages  afterwards  with 


26  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

the  greatest  fluency.  He  did  not  study  for  college 
rank,  as  many  do,  but  took  a  good  position  in  the 
classics,  and  was  excellent  in  composition.  In  decla 
mations  lie  held  rank  among  the  best ;  but  in  mathe 
matics  there  were  several  superior.  He  was  always 
amiable  and  gentlemanly  in  deportment,  and  avoided 
saying  any  thing  to  wound  the  feelings  of  his  class 
mates." 

Another  member  of  the  class  of  1830  communi 
cates  to  me  the  following  items  :  "  Though  reasona- 
ably  attentive  to  his  college  studies,  and  rarely  absent 
from  the  recitations,  I  do  not  think  that  Mr.  Sum- 
ner,  as  an  undergraduate,  was  much  distinguished 
for  close  application.  laving  been  much  better 
fitted  for  college,  especially  in  Latin  and  in  Greek, 
than  the  majority  of  his  class,  he  continued  to  sus 
tain  a  high  rank  in  both  the  ancient  and  the  modem 
languages  throughout  his  college  course.  He  stood 
well  also  in  elocution,  English  composition,  and  the 
rest  of  his  rhetorical  pursuits.  In  the  last  years  of 
his  college  course,  he  failed  in  all  the  more  abstruse 
and  difficult  mathematics.  His  memory  was  reten 
tive  ;  and  it  was  sometimes  said  of  him  that  he  learned 
by  heart  the  most  difficult  mathematical  problems, 
without  having  a  very  clear  understanding  of  their 
import.  Morally,  so  far  as  I  ha  >j  ever  heard,  his 
character  was  without  reproach." 


OF   CHARLES  SUMNER.  27 

The  following  incident,  which  occurred  during 
young  Sumner's  freshman  year,  illustrates  well  that 
firmness  of  purpose,  and  persistent  adherence  to  pre 
conceived  opinions,  by  which  his  whole  course  was 
signalized.  "  At  the  time  our  class  entered,"  writes 
to  me  the  Rev.  S.  M.  Emery,  D.D.,  one  of  his  class 
mates,  "  undergraduates  were  required  by  the  col 
lege  laws  to  wear  a  uniform,  consisting  of  an  Oxford 
cap,  coat,  pantaloons,  and  vest  of  the  color  known  as 
'  Oxford  mixed ; '  but  in  the  summer  a  white  vest 
was  permitted,  no  fancy  colors  being  allowed. 
Sunnier,  probably  having  in  his  mind  Edmund 
Burke,  who  on  state  occasions  wore  a  buff-colored 
waiscoat,  as  Daniel  Webster  did  when  he  was  to  speak 
in  the  Senate,  procured  a  vest  so  near  to  buff  color 
as  not  likely  to  be  mistaken  for  white  by  the 
observer  of  the  legal  color.  No,w  the  tutor,  proctors, 
and  other  teachers,  one  of  whom  had  his  room  in 
each  hall,  as  a  sort  of  police,  constituted  what  was 
called  the  '  parietal  board.'  They  held  their  meet 
ings  once  or  twice  a  week  to  consider  delinquencies 
of  the  students,  to  report  to  the  faculty  at  their 
weekly  meetings,  and  to  summon  the  delinquents 
before  them.  Sumner's  vest  did  not  escape  the  keen 
eyes  of  this  police.  He  was  summoned  before  the 
assembled  board,  to  answer  to  the  charge  of  disobey 
ing  the  laws  by  wearing  a  vest  which  was  not  of  the 


28  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

lawful  color.  He  protested,  in  the  best-natured  way 
possible,  that  nothing  was  farther  from  his  mind  than 
to  disobey  the  college  rules  in  all  respects ;  but  that 
the  article  of  apparel  in  question  was  white :  it 
might  need  the  manipulations  of  a  laundress  ;  but  it 
was  certainly  white.  The  board  dismissed  him  with 
the  injunction  not  to  appear  again  in  public  with 
out  a  regulation- vest.  Conscious  that  his  vest  was 
white,  he  took  no  notice  of  the  gentle  admonition  of 
the  board,  but  continued  to  wear  the  same  objec 
tionable  garment.  Two  or  three  weeks  elapsed ;  and 
he  was  again  called  before  the  board  on  the  same 
charge.  He  maintained  with  much  eloquence  that 
his  vest  was  white.  He  was  told  that  the  board 
would  be  obliged  to  report  him  to  the  faculty  if  he  per 
sisted  longer  in  his  course,  and  he  was  then  dismissed 
with  the  same  advice  as  before.  Disregarding  the 
parietal  board,  he  appeared  the  next  day  wearing 
the  same  colored  vest.  This  he  continued  to  do  for 
several  weeks,  when  he  was  again  called  before  the 
same  tribunal,  on  the  double  charge  of  disregarding 
its  admonitions  and  of  disobeying  the  college  laws. 
The  board  threatened  more  earnestly  than  ever  tc 
report  him  to  the  faculty,  and  also  to  recommend  to 
it  a  public  admonition.  He  was  undismayed,  and 
argued  his  cause  with  as  much  earnestness  as  he 
since  has  many  questions  in  Congress.  He  left  the 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  29 

board  this  time  feeling  confident  there  was  no 
escape  from  a  public  admonition.  What  was  his 
surprise,  however,  to  learn  a  day  or  two  afterwards, 
that,  as  the  easiest  way  of  settling  the  case,  the 
board  had  voted,  '  That  in  future  Sumner's  vest  be 
regarded  by  this  board  as  white.1 ' 

"  He  was,"  continues  Dr.  Emery,  "  so  well  prepared 
for  college  at  the  Boston  Latin  School,  that  the 
lessons  in  the  classical  department  were  mere  boy's 
play  to  him.  His  declamations  were  an  outburst  of 
subdued  eloquence,  showing  as  much  earnestness  as 
he  would  in  addressing  the  Senate.  He  had  been 
accustomed  to  literary  society  from  his  youth,  and 
wasv  brought  up  among  books,  so  that  study  was 
with  him  a  kind  of  second  nature.  He  never 
studied,  as  many  students  do,  for  college  honors,  but 
for  the  love  of  study,  and  for  cultivating  his  mind, 
already  well-disciplined  and  refined.  His  good  taste, 
if  nothing  else,  kept  him  from  the  company  of  '  fast 
young  men  '  and  from  any  bad  habits.  His  greatest 
pleasure  was  found  in  his  room,  attending  to  his 
favorite  studies,  which  were  something  relating  to 
the  humanities. 

"  Many  a  time  has  he  rushed  down  to  my  room 
and  begun  a  speech,  as  if  in  a  legislative  body :  '  I 
rise,  Mr.  President,  to  present  a  petition'  (stating 
what  object),  when  he  would  go  on  with  a  speech, 

3* 


30  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

in  which  he  would  introduce  quotations  from  Virgil, 
Horace,  and  Juvenal.  The  quotations  were  the 
very  same  which,  thirty  years  afterwards,  I  read  in 
some  of  his  congressional  speeches ;  and  they  were 
always  accurate.  I  recollect  accompanying  him  to 
an  ecclesiastical  council  (ex  parte)  held  in  the  old 
court-house  in  Cambridge,  to  dismiss  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Holmes.  Mr.  Hoar  of  Concord  was  counsel  for  the 
party  opposed  to  Dr.  Holmes.  We  went  to  hear  his 
argument,  in  the  course  of  which  he  quoted  the  fa 
miliar  line,  *  Tempora  mutantur  et  nos  mutamur  in  il- 
lisS  But  instead  of  saying  '  in  illisj  he  said '  cum  illis.9 
Sumner  was  greatly  shocked  at  the  mistake,  and 
turning  to  me  said,  '  A  man  ought  to  be  ashamed  of 
himself  who  attempts  to  quote  an  author,  and  does 
not  quote  correctly.'  This  slight  misquotation  con 
demned  the  scholarship  of  Mr.  Hoar  in  his  estima 
tion;  and  he  had  no  confidence  in  his  learning 
afterwards.  He  was  a  person  of  great  self-posses 
sion,  a  trait  which  he  inherited  from  his  father,  who 
when  high-sheriff  of  Suffolk  County  was  called  upon 
to  read  the  Riot  Act  on  the  stage  of  the  Federal-Street 
Theatre,  where  a  riot  was  in  progress,  and  went 
steadily  through  it  in  the  midst  of  a  shower  of  brick 
bats. 

"  He   delighted  in  the   society  of    distinguished 
men,  of  whom  Judge  Story  was  then  one  of  the  fore- 


OP  CHABLES   STJMNER.  31 

most  in  Cambridge.  He  was  deeply  impressed  with 
the  beauty  of  the  Prayer  Book  of  our  Church ;  and 
I  have  often  heard  him  read  in  a  very  solemn  manner 
many  portions  of  it,  especially  the  burial-service, 
which  he  would  render  with  great  pathos." 

Another  of  his  companions,  in  a  carefully-written 
letter,  says  to  me,  "  He  was  more  given  to  study 
than  to  companionship.  He  had  the  reputation  of 
being  a  diligent  reader  out  of  the  course,  and  was 
often  praised  for  his  themes  and  forensics.  For 
scholarship  he  stood  among  the  upper  third,  but 
was  not  remarkable  ;  yet  this  was  true  of  several 
of  his  classmates  who  have  since  obtained  distinc 
tion.  As  I  recall  him  at  the  college,  in  chapel,  or  in 
the  yard,  he  was  of  a  height  above  the  average, 
slender,  awkward  in  his  ways  and  movements,  rather 
shy,  and  not  by  any  means  inclined  to  merriment." 

Those  who  enter  college  at  a  very  early  age  often 
excel  in  the  classical  and  rhetorical  studies,  but,  for 
the  want  of  that  maturity  of  mind  which  years 
alone  can  bring,  find  themselves  unable  to  grapple 
successfully  with  the  higher  branches  of  mathemati 
cal  science  and  of  ethical  philosophy.  The  failure 
comes  not  so  much  from  any  deficiency  in  aspiration 
or  of  original  mental  power,  as  from  the  need  of 
time  for  due  development.  The  strength  of  the 
contestant  is  not  equal  to  the  armor.  This  was  the 


32  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

condition  of  Charles  Sumner.  His  tastes  and  incli 
nations  also  led  him  to  the  belles-lettres  and  human 
ities.  He  practically  took,  as  every  one  who  means 
to  make  the  most  of  his  abilities  will  do,  a  kind  of 
elective  course.  He  gave  himself  to  the  study  of 
history,  of  rhetoric,  eloquence,  and  poetry.  He 
read  with  zest  and  keen  avidity  the  works  of  the 
great  masters.  He  was  fascinated  by  the  splendid 
diction  of  Hume  and  Gibbon,  the  charming  style 
of  Addison  and  Goldsmith,  the  glowing  eloquence  of 
William  Pitt,  of  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan,  and  of 
Edmund  Burke.  His  imagination  was  enkindled  by 
the  golden  thoughts  of  Dante,  Milton  (always  with 
him  a  favorite),  Dryden,  Pope,  and  Shakspeare. 
With  these  immortal  geniuses  he  lived,  and  from 
them  drew  his  inspiration.  He  strolled,  moreover, 
into  distant  and  untrodden  fields  of  literature,  and, 
as  the  bee,  selected  honey  from  unnoticed  flowers. 
Here  he  gathered  sweets  from  some  French  poet  of 
the  mediaeval  ages  ;  here  from  some  neglected  Latin 
or  Italian  author ;  here  from  some  Saxon  legend, 
some  Highland  bard,  or  some  Provencal  troubadour. 
This  material  afterwards  came  in  to  beautify  his 
grand  pleas  for  peace,  humanity,  and  freedom. 

"  It  was 'my  fortune,"  says  the  Hon.  G.  W.  War 
ren,  "to  be  one  of  .nine  classmates  who  formed  a 
private  society  in  our  senior  year,  meeting  once  a 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  33 

week  for  literary  exercises.  Of  that  little  circle 
were  Browne,  Hopkinson,  and  Sumner,  now  de 
parted  ;  and  among  the  surviving  are  Worcester  (for 
merly  representative  in  Congress  from  Ohio,  hav 
ing  succeeded  Senator  Sherman)  now  of  Nashua, 
N.  H.,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stearns  of  Newark,  N.  J. 
Those  hours  spent  together  (for  no  one  missed  a 
meeting)  were  indeed  literary  recreations. 

"  Sumner  was  also  a  member  of  the  Hasty-Pudding 
Clul).  The  records  show  at  least  one  made  by  him 
when,  temporary  secretary,  which  is  characteristic 
of  the  style  of  his  later  days.  The  moot  court 
was  then  the  literary  exercise  of  the  club ;  and  in  his 
turn  he  filled  the  judge's  chair,  and  displayed  his 
legal  learning  in  advance.  On  his  motion  the  first 
catalogue  of  the  past  and  present  members  was 
printed,  as  I  well  remember  ;  for  the  principal  labor 
fell  upon  me  as  secretary." 

Of  his  appearance  and  studies  in  college,  the  same 
surviving  classmate  says,  "  Youngest  of  his  class, 
he  had  in  college  that  same  manly  form,  and  open, 
expressive  countenance.  He  was  the  tallest  of  his 
class.  His  genial  companionship  was  much  sought. 
He  was  noted  also  for  his  retentive  memory.  A 
diligent  reader  of  history,  and  a  thorough  belles- 
lettres  scholar,  he  never  forgot  a  date  of  any  event, 
nor  made  a  misquotation.  He  was,  as  might  be  sup- 


34  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

posed,  a  splendid  linguist,  a  good  writer,  and  a  forci 
ble  speaker ;  for  in  those  days  declamation  before 
the  whole  class  was  an  established  exercise,  coming 
round  to  each  in  turn  some  dozen  times  a  year,  for 
which  special  preparation  was  made.  He  had  little 
taste  for  mathematics  and  metaphysics ;  and  his  rank 
was  consequently  not  of  the  highest.  But  he  spent 
the  first  year  after  his  graduation  mainly  in  review 
ing  those  studies ;  and  he  amply  made  up  this  de 
ficiency." 

He  occasionally  attended  the  theatre,  and  greatly 
enjoyed  the  representation  of  dramas  of  the  higher 
class.  For  music  he  had  but  little  taste  ;  and  dan 
cing,  after  leaving  school,  he  never  practised.  Mr. 
Sumner's  chum  in  college  was,  for  a  part  of  the  time 
at  least,  the  late  John  White  Browne  of  Salem,  an 
excellent  scholar,  and  in  later  years  a  strenuous 
advocate  of  freedom ;  Avho  died  May  1,  1860,  and  to 
whose  memory  Mr.  Sumner  subsequently  paid  an 
eloquent  tribute. 

He  occupied  during  his  sophomore  and  junior 
years  No.  12,  Stoughton  Hall,  and  during  his  senior 
year  No.  23,  Holworthy  Hall. 

The  following  pleasant  story  is  told  of  him  and  a 
classmate  who  were  strolling,  one  day  in  their  fresh 
man  year,  along  the  road  to  Brighton  to  a  cattle- 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  35 

show.  Their  hopes  of  being  unobserved  were  sud 
denly  dispelled  by  meeting  their  fathers  on  the  way. 
"  Why,  Charles  !  "  said  Sheriff  Sumner  with  surprise : 
"  how  came  you  here  ?  "  "I  thought,"  replied  the 
son,  "  that  we  could  leave  without  detriment  to  our 
studies,  and  could  see  how  things  were  going  on." 
The  fathers  concluded  to  make  the  best  of  it,  and 
wished  their  boys  a  quick  return  without  incurring 
a  college  censure.  Before  separating,  however,  the 
sheriff  took  the  classmate  aside,  and  asked  him: 
"How  is  Charles  in  mathematics?"  "  Very  good 
indeed,  sir,"  was  the  kind  reply.  "  I'm  glad  of  it," 
said  the  sheriff.  "He,  then,  is  doing  better  than  I 
did ;  for  I  let  drop  the  links,  and  lost  the  chain,  and 
have  never  been  able  to  take  it  up  again." 

Mr.  Sumner  graduated  in  1830,  with  a  medium 
standing,  to  be  sure,  but  with  the  good-will  and 
friendship  both  of  his  instructors  and  his  classmates, 
and  with,  perhaps,  a  better  knowledge  of  the  stan 
dard  authors  in  prose  and  poetry,  particularly  of 
Shakspeare, —  a  copy  of  whose  works,  inscribed  THE 
BOOK,  was  ever  on  his  study-table, — than  any  other 
member  of  his  class.  He  ever  retained  a  filial  regard 
for  his  alma  mater,  and  heartily  rejoiced  in  its 
prosperity.  Several  of  its  professors,  as  Chief  Jus 
tice  Story,  H.  W.  Longfellow,  and  Louis  Agassiz, 


36          LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF   CHARLES   SUMNER. 

were  his  most  intimate  companions ;  and  associated 
with  its  classic  halls  were  many  of  his  dearest  mem 
ories.  The  university  now  points  to  him  as  one  of 
the  most  brilliant  stars  in  its  broad  constellation. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Mr.  Sunnier  on  leaving  College.  —  Private  Studies.  —  Opportuni 
ties  and  Preparations.  —  Spirit  of  the  Works  of  Genius.  —  Daniel 
Webster.  —  Mr.  Sumiier  enters  the  Law  School.  —  Method  of 
Study. —Mr.  Justice  Story. —Mr.  Simmer's  Regard  for  him. — 
His  Eloquent  Tribute  to  him.  —  His  Indebtedness  to  him.  —  Mr. 
Sumner  contributes  to  "The  American  Jurist." —Studies  with 
Benjamin  Rand,  Esq.  —  His  Regard  for  the  Law  School.  —  His 
Admission  to  the  Bar.  —  "  Sumner' s  Reports."  — Compliment  of 
Baron  Parke. —  Lectures  to  the  Dane  Law  School.  —  Edits 
Andrew  Dunlap's  "Admiralty  Practice."  —  His  Promise  as  a 
Lawyer.  —  His  Acquaintance  with  Dr.  S.  G.  Howe. 

"  It  is  by  dint  of  steady  labor;  it  is  by  giving  enough  of  application  to  the 
work,  and  having  enough  of  time  for  the  doing  of  it ;  it  is  by  regular  pains 
taking  and  the  plying  of  constant  assiduties,  —  it  is  by  these,  and  not  by  any 
process  of  legerdemain,  that  we  secure  the  strength  and  the  stability  of  real 
excellence.  It  was  thus  that  Demosthenes,  clause  after  clause,  and  sentence 
after  sentence,  elaborated,  and  that  to  the  uttermost,  his  immortal  orations." 
—  THOMAS  CHALMERS. 

|N  leaving  college,  at  the  age  of  nineteen  years, 
Charles  Sumner  had  a  well-developed,  manly 
form,  a  clear  and  resonant  voice,  and  a  char 
acter  of  unimpeachable  integrity.  His  health  was 
excellent,  his  aspiration  lofty.  He  at  once  com 
menced  upon  a  course  of  private  study,  reviewing 

37 


38  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

carefully  his  college  text-books,  extending  his  knowl 
edge  of  the  modern  languages,  and  his  course  of 
English  reading.  He  listened  on  the  sabbath  to  the 
eloquent  discourses  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Greenwood  at 
King's  Chapel,  and  occasionally  heard  the  polished 
sentences  of  Edward  Everett  on  the  platform,  and 
the  solid  arguments  of  Rufus  Choate  and  Daniel 
Webster  at  the  bar.  His  father's  position  as  high 
sheriff  of  the  county  gave  him  ready  access  to  the 
society  of  the  leading  lawyers  of  the  day,  and  natu 
rally  inclined  him  to  adopt  the  law  as  his  profession. 
Whether  at  this  period  he  read  Mr.  Garrison's  un 
compromising  "  Liberator,"  established  on  the  1st  of 
January,  1831,  or  sympathized  with  the  rising  pulse- 
beat  of  that  tremendous  power  of  which  he  was  to 
become  a  prominent  director,  and  which  was  to 
change  the  destiny  of  this  nation,  is  not  now  clearly 
known  :  but  the  immortal  works  of  genius  whose 
spirit  he  had  fondly  breathed  are  instinct  with  the 
love  of  human  liberty ;  and  his  mind  had  thus  been 
nurtured  for  the  acceptance  and  performance  of  his 
mission,  whenever  his  day  should  come.  Daniel 
Webster,  even  then,  in  his  reply  to  Col.  Robert  Y. 
Hayne  (Jan.  26  and  27,  1830)  had  brought  the 
North  up  somewhat  towards  its  true  position ;  and  as 
a  Whig  and  genuine  admirer  of  the  principles  and 
eloquence  of  the  great  senatorial  leader,  Mr.  Sum- 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  39 

ner  must  have  caught,  even  at  that  early  day,  some 
glimpses  of  a  grand  impending  crisis. 

Entering  the  Cambridge  Law  School  in  1831,  he 
came  immediately  under  the  instruction  of  that 
eminent  jurist  and  accomplished  scholar,  Joseph 
Story,  LL.D.,  who  very  soon  began  to  appreciate 
the  ability  and  to  gain  the  affection  of  his  pupil. 
Mr.  Sumner  now  bestowed  his  undivided  attention 
upon  his  legal  studies,  guided  by  the  eloquent 
tongue  of  his  distinguished  master.  He  set  himself 
to  search  from  every  source  available  original  facts 
and  principles.  Not  content  with  the  decisions  of 
the  courts,  he  ransacked  every  nook  and  corner  of 
historic  lore,  that  he  might  settle  legal  questions  on 
the  solid  grounds  of  equity  and  justice.  He  made 
himself  acquainted  with  the  contents  of  every 
volume  that  the  Law-School  library,  of  which  he 
had  the  charge,  contained ;  and  it  is  said  that  there 
was  not  a  book  in  that  valuable  collection  which  he 
could  not  lay  his  hand  upon  immediately  in  the  dark. 

"  When  he  entered  the  Law  School,"  says  Judge 
James  Dana,  "  he  buckled  on  his  armor  and  went  to 
his  studies  with  a  will,  and  soon  became  the  leading 
man  in  the  school,  for  which  he  always  manifested 
a  strong  interest."  Mr.  Justice  Story  was  a  fine 
belles-leCtres  scholar,  an  earnest  lover  of  the  beauti 
ful,  the  good,  and  true  ;  and  remarkable  for  his  con- 


40  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

versational  powers,  as  well  as  for  his  genial  urbanity, 
his  radiant  smile,  and  graceful  manner.  Between  him 
and  Mr.  Sumner,  whose  eager  mind  was  open  to  the 
charming  influences  of  such  a  sweet-tempered  and 
learned  jurist,  a  mutual  sympathy  at  once  arose, 
which  gradually  deepened  into  the  sincerest  friend 
ship.  How  strong  the  tie  between  these  two  kin 
dred  spirits  came  to  be,  the  reader  may  infer  from 
the  tribute  paid  to  Mr.  Justice  Story  in  Mr.  Sum- 
ner's  elegant  oration  on  "  The  Scholar,  the  Jurist, 
the  Artist,  the  Philanthropist,"  delivered  before  the 
Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society  of  Harvard  University  on 
the  twenty-seventh  day  of  August,  1846. 

"  By  the  attraction  of  his  name,"  says  Mr.  Sumner, 
"students  were  drawn  from  remote  parts  of  the 
Union ;  and  the  Law  School,  which  had  been  a 
sickly  branch,  became  the  golden  mistletoe  of  our 
ancient  oak.  Besides  learning  unsurpassed  in  his 
profession,  which  he  brought  to  these  added  duties, 
he  displayed  other  qualities  not  less  important  in 
the  character  of  a  teacher, — goodness,  benevolence, 
and  a  willingness  to  teach.  Only  a  good  man  can  be 
a  teacher,  —  only  a  benevolent  man,  only  a  man 
willing  to  teach.  He  was  filled  with  a  desire  to 
teach.  He  sought  to  mingle  his  mind  with  that  of 
his  pupil.  He  held  it  a  blessed  office  to  pour  into 
the  souls  of  the  young,  as  into  celestial  urns,  the 


OF  CHARLES   STJMNER.  41 

fruitful  waters  of  knowledge.  The  kindly  enthusi 
asm  of  his  nature  found  its  response.  The  law,  which 
is  sometimes  supposed  to  be  harsh  and  crabbed, 
became  inviting  under  his  instructions.  Its  •  great 
principles,  drawn  from  the  wells  of  experience  and 
reflection,  from  the  sacred  rules  of  right  and  wrong, 
from  the  unsounded  depths  of  Christian  truth, 
illustrated  by  the  learning  of  sages  and  the  judg 
ments  of  courts,  he  unfolded  so  as  best  to  inspire  a 
love  for  their  study ;  well  knowing  that  the  knowl 
edge  we  may  impart  is  trivial,  compared  with  that 
awakening  of  the  soul  under  the  influence  of  which 
the  pupil  himself  becomes  a  teacher.  All  of  knowl 
edge  we  can  communicate  is"  finite :  a  few  pages,  a 
few  chapters,  a  few  volumes,  will  embrace  it.  But 
such  an  influence  is  of  incalculable  power :  it  is  the 
breath  of  a  new  life ;  it  is  another  soul.  Story 
taught  as  a  priest  of  the  law,  seeking  to  consecrate 
other  priests.  In  him  the  spirit  spake,  not  with  the 
voice  of  an  earthly  calling,  but  with  the  gentleness 
and  self-forgetful  earnestness  of  one  pleading  in 
behalf  of  justice,  of  knowledge,  of  human  happi 
ness.  His  well-loved  pupils  hung  upon  his  lips,  and, 
as  they  left  his  presence,  confessed  a  more  exalted 
reverence  for  virtue,  and  a  warmer  love  of  knowl 
edge  for  its  own  sake." 

To  his  association  and  communion  with  this  dis- 


42  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

tinguished  jurist,  whose  juridical  acquirements  and 
decisions  commanded  the  respect  even  of  the  Eng 
lish  bench,  Mr.  Sumner  was  to  no  small  extent 
;T)dehted  for  his  profound  views  of  equity  and  of 
human  rights,  as  well  as  for  those  aspirations  for  the 
attainment  of  eminence  in  legal  science,  which 
formed  the  basis  of  that  solid  and  enlightened 
statesmanship  for  which  he  subsequently  became  so 
signally  distinguished.  It  was.  under  the  genial  and 
erudite  tuition  of  Judge  Story,  and  in  the  moot 
courts  and  discussions  of  the  Law  School,  that  Mr. 
Sumner  first  began  to  command  the  admiration  of 
his  fellow-students,  as  a  man  of  marked  ability 
and  rhetorical  power. 

During  his  connection  with  this  institution,  he 
wrote  several  articles,  evincing  varied  learning  and 
profound  research,  for  "  The  American  Jurist ;  "  and 
on  receiving  his  degree  of  LL.B.,  in  1834,  he  was  con 
sidered,  both  in  point  of  legal  science  and  of  oratory, 
one  of  the  most  accomplished  of  his  class.  Plow 
well  Mr.  Sumner  loved  the  Law  School  may  be  seen 
from  this  extract  from  a  report  on  the  condition  of 
that  institution,  drawn  up  by  him  in  1850  :  — 

"  This  library  is  one  of  the  largest  and  most  valu 
able,  relating  to  law,  to  be  found  in  the  country. 
As  an  aid  to  study,  it  cannot '  be  estimated  too 
highly.  Here  the  student  may  range  at  will  through 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  43 

all  the  demesnes  of  jurisprudence.  Here  lie  may 
acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  books  of  his  profession 
—  learning  their  true  character  and  value  —  which 
will  be  of  incalculable  service  to  him  in  his  future 
labors.  Whqso  knows  how  to  use  a  library  possesses 
the  very  keys  of  knowledge.  Next  to  knowing  the 
law,  is  knowing  where  the  law  is  to  be  found. 

"  There  is  another  advantage,  of  a  peculiar  charac 
ter,  afforded  by  the  Law  School,  in  the  opportunity 
of  kindly  and  instructive  social  relations  among 
the  students,  and  also  between  the  students  and 
their  instructors.  Young  men  engaged  in  simi 
lar  pursuits  are  professors  to  each  other.  The 
daily  conversation  concerns  their  common  studies, 
and  contributes  some  new  impulse.  Mind  meets 
mind ;  and  each  derives  strength  from  the  con 
tact.  But  the  instructor  is  also  at  hand.  In 
the  lecture-room,  and  also  in  private,  he  is  ready  to 
afford  counsel  and  help.  The  students  are  not  alone 
in  their  labors.  They  find  an  assistant  at  every  step 
of  their  journey,  ready  to  conduct  them  through  its 
devious  and  toilsome  passes,  and  to  remove  the  diffi 
culties  which  throng  the  way.  This  twofold  com 
panionship  —  of  the  students  with  each  other,  and  of 
the  students  with  their  instructors  —  is  full  of  benefi 
cent  influences,  not  only  in  the  cordial  intercourse 
which  it  begets,  but  in  the  positive  knowledge  which 


44  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

it  diffuses,  and  in  its   stimulating   effect  upon  the 
minds  of  all  who  enjoy  it. 

"  In  dwelling  on  the  advantages  of  the  Law  School 
as  a  seat  of  legal  education,  the  committee  place 
side  by  side  with  the  lectures  and  exercises  of  the 
professors  the  profitable  opportunities  afforded  by 
the  library,  and  by  the  fellowship  of  persons  engaged 
in  the  same  pursuits  ;  all  echoing  to  the  heart  of  the 
pupil,  as  from  the  genius  of  the  place,  constant 
words  of  succor,  encouragement,  and  hope." 

Mr.  Sumner  read  law  for  some  time  in  the  office 
of  Benjamin  Rand,  Esq.,  a  counsellor  distinguished 
alike  for  his  conversational  powers,  his  love  of 
books,  and  his  knowledge  of  the  law.  Every  sail 
ing  packet  which  arrived  from  England  brought 
him  the  latest  legal  publications,  which  he  devoured 
with  singular  voracity,  and  then  discussed  their  con 
tents  with  his  brilliant  pupil.  G.  W.  Warren  and 
Francis  J.  Humphrey  were  his  classmates  in  this 
office. 

"  He  is  remembered  there,"  writes  the  latter  gen 
tleman  to  me,  "  chiefly  as  a  most  indefatigable  student 
and  lover  of  books.  His  personal  demeanor  was  that 
of  a  shy  and  modest  maiden.  He  always  greeted  me 
with  a  cheerful  word  and  a  most  radiant  smile.  The 
notion  of  '  arrogance,'  as  a  quality  in  the  character 
of  Charles  Sumner,  can  excite  in  me  only  the  emo 
tion  of  ridicule." 


OF  CHARLES  SUMNER.  45 

Mr.  Simmer  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Worcester 
in  1834,  and  commenced  the  practice  of  law  in  Bos 
ton.  Thoroughly  prepared  as  he  was  for  meeting 
the  demands  of  his  vocation,  he  soon  came  to  enjoy 
extensive  patronage.  He  was  shortly  afterwards 
appointed  Reporter  to  the  circuit  court  of  the  United 
States  ;  and  while  serving  in  this  capacity  published 
the  three  volumes  now  known  as  "  Sumner's  Re 
ports,"  embodying  the  important  legal  decisions  *  of 
Mr.  Justice  Story.  He  also  edited  with  signal 
ability  "  The  American  Jurist,"  a  standard  quar 
terly  journal  of  jurisprudence.  During  three  suc 
cessive  winters  subsequent  to  his  admission  to  the 
bar,  he  delivered  lectures  to  the  students  of  the 
Dane  Law  School  at  Cambridge,  and  for  a  brief 
period  had  the  sole  charge  of  that  institution.  Such 
fidelity  to  his  trust,  such  an  affluence  of  learning, 
and  such  legal  acumen  were  exhibited  in  these  lec 
tures,  that  in  1836  a  professorship  in  the  school  was 

*  TLe  following  compliment  was  paid  by  Baron  Parke  to  Mr. 
Sunnier,  and  his  Reports  of  the  Decisions  of  Mr.  Justice  Story: — 

On  an  insurance  question,  before  the  Court  of  Exchequer,  one 
of  the  counsel  having  cited  an  American  case,  Baron  Parke,  the 
ablest  of  the  English  judges,  asked  him  what  book  he  quoted.  He 
replied,  "Simmer's  Reports."  Baron  Eolfe  said,  "Is  that  the  Mr. 
Simmer  who  was  once  in  England?  "  On  receiving  a  reply  in  the 
affirmative,  Baron  Parke  observed,  "  We  shall  not  consider  it  enti 
tled  to  the  less  attention  because  reported  by  a  gentleman  whom 
we  all  knew  and  respected." 


46  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

tendered  to  him.  This  he  declined.  "  Mr.  Sum- 
ner's  position-  in  the  legal  world,"  says  Mr.  D.  A. 
Harsha,  "  was  an  enviable  one :  he  was  universally 
regarded  as  a  young  lawyer  of  exalted  talent,  bril 
liant  genius,  and  commanding  eloquence."  His 
legal  acquirements  attracted  the  attention,  and 
received  the  compliments,  of  Chancellor  James  Kent 
and  other  eminent  civilians.  His  reputation  as  a 
lawyer  was  extended  by  the  able  editorship  of 
Andrew  Dunlap's  standard  work  on  "  Admiralty 
Practice,"  to  which  he  added  valuable  notes  and 
comments,  and  which  was  published  in  Philadelphia 
in  1886.  On  his  death-*bed  Mr.  Dunlap  stated  that 
Mr.  Sumner  had  worked  over  it  "  with  the  zeal  of  a 
sincere  friend,  and  the  accuracy  of  an  excellent 
lawyer."  By  the  labors  of  Mr.  Sumner  thus  far,  it 
appeared  that  his  future  career  was  to  be  only  that 
of  a  distinguished  lawyer ;  but,  as  remarked  above, 
the  study  of  juridical  science  is  essential  to  the 
exercise  of  broad  and  enlightened  statesmanship,  for 
which,  though  it  might  have  been  unconsciously,  he 
was  then  making  preparation.  "  I  knew  Mr.  Sum 
ner,"  says  R.  B.  Caverly,  Esq.,  in  a  letter  to  me 
elated  Lowell,  April  1,  1874,  "  in  his  early  manhood. 
I  was  with  him  quite  constantly  in  1835-36  and  '37 
in  the  Cambridge  Law  School,  where  he  occasionally 
appeared  as  a  professor  in  place  of  Judge  Story.  He 


OF   CHARLES  SUMNER.  47 

was  then  in  manner  reserved,  yet  courteous ;  in  form 
tall,  and  comparatively  slender.  He  was.  prompt  in 
his  attendance,  and  ready  in  the  law.  I  remember 
that  on  his  return  from  Europe  he  seemed  proud  to 
relate  that  Lord  Brougham  had  expressed  to  him  the 
opinio^  that  Mr.  Justice  Story  was  the  greatest 
judge  in  the  world." 

Mr.  Sumner's  acquaintance  with  Dr.  S.  G.  Howe 
—  a  true  and  intimate  friend  —  commenced,  it  is 
said,  at  the  great  Broad-street  riot  in  1837.  "  The 
rioters  had  got  possession  of  some  barrels  of  whis 
key  ;  when  Dr.  Howe,  seeing  a  stalwart  young  man 
endeavoring  with  an  axe  to  knock  in  the  head  of  one 
of  the  barrels,  hastened  to  Ms  aid."  This  young 
man  proved  to  be  Charles  Sumner,  with  whom  he 
then  commenced  a  friendship,  which,  cemented  by 
kindred  views  on  the  leading  questions  of  human 
progress,  continued  until  broken  by  death. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Mr.  Sumner  visits  Europe. — Chief -Justice  Story's  Letter.  — Anec 
dote. —  Mr.  Sumner' s  Reception  in  England.  —  R.  M.  Milnes. — 
Another  Letter  from  Judge  Story.  — Visit  to  Paris.  —  Gen.  Lewis 
Cass.  —  Art  Studies  in  Italy.  —  Glowing  Description  of  the  Coun 
try. — Thomas  Crawford.  — Anecdote  concerning  Thomas  Aquinas. 
—  Acquaintances  made  in  Germany.  —  Letter  from  William  Pres- 
cott. — Mr.  Sumner' s  Regard  for  Boston.  —  His  Home  on  his  Re 
turn  from  Europe.  —  Lyceum  Lectures.  —  Course  of  Lectures  to 
the  Cambridge  Law  School.  —  He  Edits  "  Vesey's  Reports."  — 
Remarks  from  "  The  Law  Reporter." 

"  He  (Charles  Sumner)  presents  in  his  own  person  a  decisive  proof  that  an 
American  gentleman,  without  official  rank  or  wide-spread  reputation,  by  mere 
dint  of  courtesy,  candor,  an  entii'e  absence  of  pretension,  an  appreciating 
spirit,  and  a  cultivated  mind,  may  be  received  on  a  perfect  footing  of  equality 
in  the  best  circles,  — social,  political,  and  intellectual;  which,  be  it  observed, 
are  hopelessly  inaccessible  to  the  itinerant  note-taker,  who  never  gets  beyond 
the  outskirts  of  the  show-houses." —  Quarterly  Review. 

IN  the  autumn  of  1887  Mr.  Sumner  sailed  for 
Europe,  taking  with  him  letters  of  introduc 
tion  to  distinguished  gentlemen  abroad,  from 
Mr.  Justice  Story  and  other  eminent  civilians. 

"  Mr.  Sumner,"  says  Judge  Story  in  his  letter,  "  is 
a  practising  lawyer  at  the  Boston  bar,  of  very  high 
reputation  for  his  years,  and  already  giving  the  prom- 

48 


CHARLEtt   SUMNEE.  49 

ise  of  the  most  eminent  distinction  in  his  profession : 
his  literary  and  judicial  attainments  are  truly 
extraordinary.  He  is  one  of  the  editors,  indeed  the 
principal  editor,  of  '  The  American  Jurist,'  a  quar 
terly  journal  of  extensive  circulation  and  celebrity 
among  us,  and  without  a  rival  in  America.  He  is 
also  the  reporter  of  the  court  in  which  I  preside,  and 
has  already  published  two  volumes  of  reports.  His 
private  character,  also,  is  of  the  best  kind  for  purity 
and  propriety.  But,  to  accomplish  himself  more  thor 
oughly  in  the  great  objects  of  his  profession,  —  not 
merely  to  practise,  but  to  extend  the  boundaries  in 
the  science  of  law,  —  I  am  very  anxious  that  he 
should  possess  the  means  of  visiting  the  courts  of 
Westminster  Hall  under  favorable  auspices ;  and  I 
shall  esteem  it  a  personal  favor  if  you  can  give  him 
any  facilities  in  this  particular."  Mr.  Sumner  was 
received  with  enviable  distinction  into  many  of  the 
best  circles  of  English  society,  and  was  honored  with 
marked  attention  by  the  leading  members  of  the 
bench  and  bar.  He  was  once  invited  to  sit  with  the 
lord  chief-justice  of  the  king's  bench.  A  novel  point 
arising  during  the  trial,  his  lordship,  turning  to 
Mr.  Sumner,  inquired  if  any  American  decision 
touched  that  point.  "  No,"yoar  lordship,"  Mr.  Sum 
ner  instantly  replied ;  "  but  the  point  has  been 
decided  in  your  lordship's  court  in  such  a  case," 


50  LIFE   AND  TIMES 

which  he  then  cited.  This  singular  promptitude  gave 
him  much  celebrity  with  the  English  bar.  During 
his  residence  in  England,  which  embraced  a  period 
of  almost  a  year,  he  frequently  attended  the  debates 
in.  parliament,  and  made  the  acquaintance  of  the 
leading  speakers  and  the  eminent  statesmen  of  the 
day.  In  a  letter  to  him,  dated  Aug.  11,  1838,  Mr. 
Justice  Story  says,  — 

"  I  have  received  all  your  letters,  and  have  de 
voured  them  with  unspeakable  delight.  All  the 
family  have  read  them  aloud ;  and  all  join  in  their 
expressions  of  pleasure.  You  are  now  exactly  where 
I  wish  you  to  be,  —  among  the  educated,  the  literary, 
the  noble,  and  (though  last  not  least)  the  learned,  of 
England,  of  good  old  England,  our  mother-land :  God 
bless  her  !  Your  sketches  of  the  bar  and  bench  are 
deeply  interesting  to  me,  and  so  full  that  I  think  I 
can  see  them  in  my  mind's  eye.  I  must  return  my 
thanks  to  Mr.  Justice  Vaughan  for  his  kindness  to 
you :  it  has  gratified  me  beyond  measure,  not  merely 
as  a  proof  of  his  liberal  friendship,  but  of  his  acute- 
ness  and  tact  in  his  discovery  of  character.  It  is  a 
just  homage  to  your  own  merits.  Your  Old-Bailey 
speech  was  capital,  and  hit  by  stating  sound  truths 
in  the  right  way."  During  his  residence  in  London, 
Mr.  Sunnier  formed  the  acquaintance  of  Thomas  B. 
Macaulay,  whose  "  wonderful  conversation,"  said  he, 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNEB.  51 

"  left  on  the  inind  an  ineffaceable  impression  of  elo 
quence  and  fulness,  perhaps  without  a  parallel."  Of 
the  manner  of  his  introduction  to  Richard  Monckton 
Milnes,  he  gave  the  following  account  to  his  friend 
James  Redpath :  — 

"  I  was  at  Sydney  Smith's  breakfast-table  one 
morning,  with  perhaps  a  dozen  others,  when  he  sud 
denly  asked  me  how  English  literary  reputations 
stood  in  America."  "  We  sometimes  presume,"  said 
Mr.  Sumner,  "  to  rejudge  your  judgments;  to  refuse 
a  reputation  where  you  give  one,  and  to  bestow  a 
name  where  you  withhold  it.'  '  An  example !  an 
example ! '  exclaimed  Mr.  Smith  in  his  caressing 
style.  Here  I  was,  a  young  Yankee  Doodle,  to  use 
a  phrase  of  Mr.  Carlyle,  at  the  table  of  the  great 
est  wit,  probably,  that  England  ever  saw,  singled 
out  by  him  to  maintain  a  position  which  I  had 
advanced.  But  I  did  not  feel  inclined  to  let  the 
matter  go  by  default,  so  I  said  at  once  :  — 

"  '  Carlyle  !  '  '  Carlyle  ! '  said  Smith,  '  we  don't 
know  him  here :  what  have  you  got  to  say  of  Car 
lyle  ?  '  I  said,  '  I  am  not  an  indiscriminate  admirer 
of  Carlyle ;  I  find  much  in  him  to  criticise :  but  I 
have  always  been  impressed  by  his  genius ;  he  seems 
to  me  to  write  as  if  by  flashes  of  lightning.'  This 
declaration  seemed  to  surprise  the  company,  with  the 
exception  of  one  gentleman,  whom  I  observed  to 


52  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

listen  very  attentively.  When  the  conversation  was 
resumed,  he  rose  and  placed  his  card  in  my  hand, 
saying,  '  Mr.  Simmer,  I  thank  you  for  what  you 
have  said  of  Carlyle.  I  am  the  only  man  here  who 
appreciates  him.  This  is  my  card ;  I  shall  be  obliged 
for  yours,  and  desire  to  visit  you.' 

"  It  was  Richard  Monckton  Mimes,  the  poet  and 
member  of  Parliament.  The  conversation  of  Mr. 
Carlyle  resembled  in  style  his  published  writings. 
It  was  racy,  suggestive,  thoughtful,  matterful." 

From  England  Mr.  Sumner  went  to  Paris,  where 
he  found  ready  access  to  the  highest  literary  circles. 
His  knowledge  of  the  French  language  and  literature 
enabled  him  to  appreciate  the  brilliant  intellectual 
society  of  the  French  capital.  He  made  the  ac 
quaintance  and  secured  the  friendship  of  the  gifted 
poet  Alphonse  de  Lamartine,  then  becoming  liberal 
in  his  political  views ;  of  Victor  Hugo,  then  strug 
gling  into  fame ;  of  M.  Alexis  cle  Tocqueville,  who 
had  recently  published  the  first  part  of  his  great 
work  on  "  Democracy  in  America ; "  and  of  other 
well-known  authors.  Not  a  moment  of  his  time  was 
wasted.  "  He  attended  the  debates  of  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  and  the  lectures  of  all  the  eminent  profes 
sors  in  different  departments,  —  at  the  Sorbonne,  at 
the  College  of  France,  and  particularly  in  the  Law 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  53 

School.*  He  became  personally  acquainted  with 
several  of  the  most  eminent  jurists,  —  with  Baron 
Degeranclo,  renowned  for  his  works  on  charity  ;  with 
Pardessus,  at  the  head  of  commercial  law ;  with 
Fcelix,  editor  of  the  '  Review  of  Foreign  Jurispru 
dence  ; '  and  other  famous  men.  He  attended  a 
whole  term  of  the  Royal  Court  at  Paris,  observing 
the  forms  of  procedure,  received  kindness  from  the 
judges,  and  was  allowed  to  peruse  the  papers  in  the 
cases.  His  presence  at  some  of  these  trials  was 
noticed  in  the  reports  in  the  law  journals." 

While  in  France,  his  thoughts  were  turned  espe 
cially  to  the  leading  social  questions  of  the  day ;  and, 
from  his  intercourse  with  the  liberal  philosophers  of 
that  period,  his  views  of  prison-discipline,  of  univer 
sal  peace  and  brotherhood,  which  came  so  grandly 
forth  in  his  first  remarkable  orations,  received  fresh 
coloring  and  confirmation.  Through  Mr.  Sumner 
many  of  the  advanced  ideas  of  France  in  respect 
to  legal  and  social  science  were  introduced  into 

*  "  In  Paris,"  says  Mr.  Sumner,  in  his  argument  against  separate 
colored  schools,  Dec.  4,  1849,  "I  have  sat  for  weeks  at  the  Law 
School  on  the  same  benches  with  colored  persons  listening,  like  my 
self,  to  the  learned  lectTires  of  Degerando  and  of  Rossi  (the  last  is 
the  eminent  minister  who  has  unhappily  fallen  beneath  the  dagger 
of  a  Roman  assassin)  ;  nor  do  I  remember  observing,  in  the  throng 
of  sensitive  young  men  by  whom  they  were  surrounded,  any  feeling 
towards  them  except  of  companionship  and  respect." 


54  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

America.  Lewis  Cass  was  then  our  minister  at 
Paris  ;  and  at  his  solicitation  Mr.  Sumner  wrote  a 
strong  defence  of  our  claim  in  respect  to  the  north 
western  boundary,  which  was  published  in  "  Gali- 
gnani's  Messenger,"  and  extensively  copied  by  Ameri 
can  journals,  and  which  evinced  the  liberal  policy 
of  the  writer,  and  materially  aided  in  the  settlement 
of  that  vexed  question.  In  the  art-galleries  of  this 
city  he  began  to  make  that  collection  of  engravings 
which  subsequently  came  to  be  one  of  the  finest  in 
America. 

From  Paris  Mr.  Sumner  repaired  to  Italy,  the  land 
of  art,  of  poetry,  and  song.  Here  he  gave  himself  up 
to  the  study  of  the  works  of  the  grand  masters,  and 
to  the  ruins  of  ancient  Rome.  He  himself  glowingly 
describes  the  country  as  the  "  enchanted  ground  of 
literature,  of  history,  and  of  art,  strown  with  richest 
memorials  of  the  past,  filled  with  scenes  memorable 
in  the  story  of  the  progress  of  man,  teaching  by  the 
pages  of  philosophers  and  historians,  vocal  with  the 
melody  of  poets,  ringing  with  the  music  which  St. 
Cecilia  protects,  glowing  with  the  living  marble  and 
canvas,  beneath  a  sky  of  heavenly  purity  and  bright 
ness,  with  the  sunsets  which  Claude  has  painted, 
parted  by  the  Apennines  (early  witnesses  of  the  'un 
recorded  Etruscan  civilization),  surrounded  by  the 
snow-capped  Alps  and  the  blue,  classic  waters  of 


OF  CHARLES   STJMNEE.  55 

the  Mediterranean  Sea.  .  .  .  Rome,  sole  surviving 
city  of  Antiquity,  who  once  disdained  all  that  could 
be  wrought  by  the  cunning  hand  of  sculpture, 

"Excudent  alii  spirantia  mollius  aera, 
Credo  equidem :  vivos  ducent  de  marmore  vnltus," 

who  has  commanded  the  world  by  her  arms,  by  her 
jurisprudence,  by  her  church,  now  sways  it  further 
by  her  arts.  Pilgrims  from  afar,  where  neither  her 
eagles,  her  prsotors,  nor  her  interdicts  ever  reached, 
become  the  willing  subjects  of  this  new  empire  ;  and 
the  Vatican  stored  with  the  precious  remains  of 
antiquity,  and  the  touching  creations  of  a  Christian 
pencil,  has  succeeded  to  the  Vatican  whose  thunders 
intermingled  with  the  strifes  of  modern  Europe." 

During  his  residence  in  Italy  he  often  studied 
twelve  hours  a  day:  he  mastered  the  Italian  lan 
guage,  and  read  many  of  the  Italian  poets  and  his 
torians.  His  art-studies  at  Rome  he  pursued  under 
the  guidance  of  Thomas  Crawford,  one  of  our  most 
eminent  American  sculptors,  then  a  resident  of  the 
Eternal  City.  In  the  galleries  of  the  Vatican,  of  the 
Capitol,  and  of  the  palaces,  he  spent  many  days  with 
this  distinguished  artist,  admiring  and  criticising  the 
resplendent  works  of  the  great  masters. 

"  He  once  told  me,"  says  a  personal  friend,  "  that 
a  Catholic  bishop,  after  endeavoring  in  vain  to  con- 


56  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

vert  him  to  the  Roman  faith,  had  finally  assured  him, 
that,  if  he  would  but  read  the  works  of  St.  Thomas 
Aquinas,  he  would  certainly  be  convinced;  when 
he  promptly  informed  him  that  he  had  alread}T  read 
every  word  of  that  esteemed  father  in  the  original 
Latin ;  and,  though  he  had  not  become  a  Catholic 
in  religion,  he  was  catholic  enough  to  admit  that 
the  Angelic  Doctor  had,  in  his  opinion,  one  of  the 
first  of  intellects,  if  not  the  very  first,  that  the  earth 
had  known."  Mr.  Sumner  added,  in  narrating  this 
incident,  that  in  speaking  further  of  Aquinas  he  ex 
pressed  his  wonder  that  one  who  died  so  young 
should  have  been  able  to  write  so  many  works  as  he 
had  left  behind ;  whereupon  the  bishop  had  asserted 
that  he  lived  to  a  good  old  age.  Assuring  him  that 
he  was  certainly  mistaken,  the  senator  turned  to  a 
cyclopsedia  of  biography,  and  showed  the  bishop  that 
the  father  died  at  the  early  age  of  forty-eight  years." 
Returning  home  by  the  way  of  Germany,  he  there 
was  courteously  received  by  the  celebrated  Prince 
Metternich,  and  formed  an  acquaintance  with  the 
historian  Leopold  Ranke,  the  geographer  Carl  Ritter, 
the  eminent  scientist  Alexander  von  Humboldt,  and 
other  prominent  savans.  Mr.  Sunnier  visited  Europe 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  study  and  observation.  He 
left  no  opportunity  for  acquiring  information  and  a 
higher  culture  unimproved.  With  ready  access  to 


OF  CHARLES  SUMNKB.  57 

the  best  society,  with  a  mind  eager  for  new  truths, 
with  a  taste  refined  by  classical  pursuits,  a  memory 
as  retentive  as  a  vice,  and  an  aspiration  which  no 
impediment  could  repress,  he  treasured  up  a  golden 
store  of  intellectual  wealth,  and  on  his  return  to 
Boston  early  in  1840  possessed  an  affluence  of  learn 
ing  and  a  felicity  of  diction  which  commanded  the  ad 
miration  of  our  most  accomplished  scholars. 

"  You  ha'ye  indeed,"  wrote  Mr.  Prescott  the  his 
torian  to  him,  "  read  a  page  of  social  life  such  as  few 
anywhere  have  access  to  ;  for  your  hours  have  been 
passed  with  the  great,  —  not  merely  with  those  born 
to  greatness,  but  those  who  have  earned  it  for  them 
selves." 

With  what  delight  Mr.  Sumner  again  beheld  the 
domes  of  Boston,  and  how  well  he  loved  his  native 
city,  may  be  inferred  from  these-  remarks  he  subse 
quently  made  concerning  it :  — 

"  Boston  has  always  led  the  generous  and  mag 
nanimous  actions  of  our  history.  Boston  led  the 
cause  of  the  Revolution.  Here  was  commenced  that 
discussion,  pregnant  with  the  independence  of  the 
colonies,  which,  at  first  occupying  a  few  warm  but 
true  spirits  only,  finally  absorbed  all  the  best  ener 
gies  of  the  continent,  —  the  eloquence  of  Adams,  the 
patriotism  of  Jefferson,  the  wisdom  of  Washington. 
Boston  is  the  home  of  noble  charities,  the  nurse  of 


58  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

true  learning,  the  city  of  churches.  By  all  these 
tokens  she  stands  conspicuous ;  and  other  parts  of 
the  country  are  not  unwilling  to  follow  her  example. 
Athens  was  called  the  eye  of  Greece :  Boston  may  be 
called  the  eye  of  America  ;  and  the  influence  which 
she  exerts  is  to  be  referred,  not  to  her  size,  for  there 
are  other  cities  larger  far,  but  to  her  moral  and  intel 
lectual  character." 

On  reaching  home,  he  found  a  widowed  mother  — 
who  during  his  absence  had  followed  the  remains  of 
her  accomplished  daughter  Jane,  and  then  in  1839 
of  her  beloved  husband,  to  the  silent  grave  —  in 
charge  of  the  bereaved  family.  His  reception  was  most 
cordial  and  affectionate  ;  and,  choosing  for  his  study 
the  front  chamber  above  the  parlor,  he  arranged  the 
specimens  of  art  and  the  books  he  had  secured 
abroad,  and  there  for  many  years  pursued  his  literary 
course.  His  books  were  his  society,  his  pen  the 
instrument  of  his  toil.  He  labored  unremittingly ; 
now  delving  into  classical  lore,  now  poring  over 
the  tomes  of  mediaeval  learning,  now  studying  the 
works  of  the  French  and  English  statesmen,  and 
now  communing  with  the  spirits  of  the  Revolution 
ary  patriots,  —  Adams,  Ames,  Jay,  Franklin,  Jeffer 
son,  Hamilton,  Washington.  To  use  the  language 
which  he  loved,  it  could  be  truly  said  of  him,  — 

"  Come  Tape  succhia  i  fiori, 
Succhia  i  detti  de'  migliori." 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  59 

Thus  he  treasured  up  that  precious  store  of  facts, 
principles,  and  illustrations  with  which  he  em 
bellished  (sometimes  at  the  risk  of  being  called  a 
pedant)  his  discourses. 

He  resumed  the  practice  of  the  law:  but  his 
thoughts  were  given  rather  to  its  principles  and  its 
literature  than  to  its  prosaic  and  dry  details  ;  and  he 
therefore  found  it  a  relief  to  steal  away  from  his  pro 
fession,  and  present  his  thoughts  concerning  intel 
lectual  and  social  questions  on  the  platform  of  the 
lyceum,  where  he  soon  obtained  remarkable  success. 
During  the  winter  of  1843  he  again  delivered  a 
course  of  lectures  to  the  students  of  the  Cambridge 
Law  School,  and  subsequently  engaged  in  the  labori 
ous  work  of  editing  the  twenty  volumes  of  "  Vesey's 
Reports,"  to  which  he  added  sketches  of  distin 
guished  counsellors  mentioned  in  the  text,  and  also 
valuable  notes. ,  In  speaking  of  the  execution  of  this 
task,  "  The  Law  Reporter  "  makes  the  following  dis 
criminating  remarks :  — 

"  Wherever  occasion  offers  itself,  the  editorial 
note  has  been  expanded  till  it  assumes  something  of 
the  port  and  stature  of  a  brief  legal  dissertation,  in 
which  the  topics  are  discussed  in  the  assured  manner 
of  one  who  feels  that  his  foot  is  planted  on  familiar 
ground,  and  whose  mind  is  so  saturated  with  legal 
knowledge  that  it  readily  pours  it  forth  at  the 


60          LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF   CHARLES   SUMNER. 

slightest  pressure ;  reminding  us  of  those  first 
'  sprightly  runnings '  of  the  wine-press,  extracted  by 
no  force  but  the  mere  weight  of  the  grapes.  Mr. 
Sumner  has  also  introduced  a  new  element  into  his 
notes :  we  allude  to  his  biographical  notes  of  the 
eminent  men  whose  names  occur  in  the  reports 
either  in  a  judicial  or  forensic  capacity,  and  to  his 
occasional  historical,  political,  and  biographical  illus 
trations  of  the  text.  In  what  may  be  called  the 
literature  of  the  law,  — the  curiosities  of  legal  learn 
ing, — he  has  no  rival  among  us." 


CHAPTER   V. 

The  steady  Increase  and  Arrogance  of  the  Slave-Power.  —  Mr.  Gar 
rison's  Efforts  to  resist  it.  —  Opprobrium  cast  upon  the  Aboli 
tionists. —  The  Annexation  of  Texas. — Mr.  Sumner's  View  of 
Slavery  in  "The  True  Grandeur  of  Nations." — Compliments  of 
Eichard  Cobden,  Chief -Justice  Story,  and  Theodore  Parker.  — 
Extracts  from  the  Speech.— Efforts  to  Prevent  the  Final  Vote  on 
the  Annexation  of  Texas.  —  Mr.  Sumner  takes  open  Ground 
against  Slavery,  in  his  Speech  of  Nov.  4,  1845.  —  Extracts  from 
this  Speech.  —  Notice  of  Mr.  Sumner's  Stand  by  Mr.  Wilson.— 
Mr.  Sumner's  Preparation  for  his  Course. — His  Persistency. 

"  Though  all  the  winds  of  doctrine  were  let  loose  to  play  upon  the  earth,  so 
Truth  be  in  the  field,  we  do  injuriously,  by  licensing  and  prohibiting,  to  doubt 
her  strength.  Let  her  and  Falsehood  grapple."  —  JOHN  MILTON. 

"  Before  thy  mystic  altar,  heavenly  Truth, 
I  kneel  in  manhood  as  I  knelt  in  youth : 
Thus  let  me  kneel  till  tliis  dull  form  decay, 
And  lif  e's  last  shade  be  brightened  by  thy  ray : 
Then  shall  my  soul,  now  lost  in  clouds  below, 
Soar  without  bound,  without  consuming  glow." 

SIB  WILLIAM  JONES. 

1  TIRING  Mr.  Sumner's  residence   in   Europe 
from  1837  until  1840,  and  for  many  subse 
quent    years,   the   slave-power,   which  had 
early  struck  its  roots  deeply  into  the  councils  of  the 

6  61 


62  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

nation,  continued  to  extend  its  baleful  influence  even 
to  the  contamination  of  the  entire  body  politic. 

Its  steady  and  persistent  aim  was  the  complete 
dominion  of  the  legislation  of  the  country.  To  re 
sist  the  encroachments,  or  even  to  discuss  the  princi 
ples,  of  the  servile  system  was  deemed  fanatical  and 
revolutionary.  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  an  invinci 
ble  champion  of  freedom,  was  indeed,  through  the 
columns  of  his  "  Liberator,"  boldly  denouncing  the 
inhumanity  of  the  peculiar  institution,  and  warning 
the  public  of  the  steady  advance  of  the  slave- 
power;  but  to  accord  to  him  or  his  compeers  any 
word  of  sympathy  was  to  forfeit  political  caste,  and 
to  be  branded  as  an  agitator  and  an  abolitionist,  — 
reproaches  which  it  then  demanded  an  unflinching 
heroism  to  incur.  In  spite,  however,  of  this  general 
opprobrium,  of  legislative  menace,  or  the  perils  of  a 
ruthless  mob,  the  tide  of  sympathy  for  our  fellow- 
men  in  bondage  was  slowly  swelling  ;  and  one  friend 
of  freedom  after  another,  as  Edmund  Quincy,  Wen 
dell  Phillips,  William  H.  Burleigh,  and  Henry  Wil 
son,  nobly  rose  to  assert  that  the  aggressions  of  the 
slave-power  could  and  must  be  met.  Now  where 
will  Mr.  Sumner  take  his  stand  ?  He  is  the  pride  of 
the  aristocratic  circles  of  Boston,  a  popular  alumnus 
of  Harvard  University,  an  intimate  friend  of  Mr. 
Justice  Story,  —  who  said  that  he  should  die  content, 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  63 

if  his  young  protegS  could  take  his  empty  chair  in  the 
Cambridge  Law  School,  —  and  of  whom  Chancellor 
James  Kent  declared,  "  He  is  the  only  person 
in  the  country  competent  to  fill  it."  He  is  a  gentle 
man  of  varied  and  extensive  learning ;  and  his  culture 
is  enhanced  by  foreign  travel,  and  by  personal  inter 
course  with  the  ripest  scholars  and  men  of  genius 
of  his  age.  What  course  will  he  pursue?  On  the 
one  hand  there  is  the  grand  old  Whig  party,  with 
Daniel  Webster,  Abbott  Lawrence,  and  Robert  C. 
Winthrop  at  the  head,  with  fame  and  fortune  in  the 
distance.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  a  few  radi 
cal  anti-slavery  agitators,  who  are  held  by  men  in 
power  as  contemptible  disturbers  of  the  public  peace, 
and  who  may  incur  the  fate  of  Elijah  Parish  Love- 
joy,  murdered  by  the  mob  at  Alton.  Which  line  of 
action  will  this  accomplished  young  civilian  take? 
We  shall  soon  see. 

In  the  summer  of  1844  Mr.  Sumner  had  a  severe 
sickness,  from  which  it  was  feared  he  would  not 
recover.  William  Prescott,  the  historian,  thus  refers 
to  it  in  his  journal,  under  the  date  of  Nahant,  July 
21 :  "  Been  to  town  twice  last  week,  —  most  un 
common  for  me,  —  once  to  see  my  friend  Calderon,  re 
turned  as  minister  from  Spain ;  and  once  to  see  my 
poor  friend  Sumner,  who  has  had  a  sentence  of  death 
passed  on  him  by  the  physicians.  His  sister  sat  by 


64  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

his  side,  struck  with  the  same  disease.  It  was  an  af 
fecting  sight  to  see  brother  and  sister  thus,  hand  in 
hand,  preparing  to  walk  through  the  dark  valley.  I 
shall  lose  a  good  friend  in  Sumner,  and  one  who, 
though  I  have  known  him  but  a  few  years,  has  done 
me  many  kind  offices."  His  sister  Mary,  a  very 
amiable  and  accomplished  lady,  succumbed  to  the 
disease,  from  which  her  brother  Charles,  owing  to  the 
unusual  vigor  of  his  constitution,  soon  recovered. 

During  the  administration  of  John  Tyler,  himself 
a  slaveholder,  the  gigantic  scheme  of  annexing 
Texas  to  the  Union  was  introduced  by  Southern 
members  into  Congress.  This  republic,  which  had 
declared  itself  free  from  Mexican  rule  in  1835,  em 
braced  an  area  of  237,500  square  miles,  extending 
from  the  Sabine  and  Red  Rivers  on  the  east,  to  the 
Rio  Grande  (as  some  held),  separating  it  from  Mexico, 
on  the  west.  The  acquisition  of  such  a  vast  extent 
of  territory  would  give  the  slave  states  the  command 
of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  insure  to  them  the-  bal 
ance  of  political  power.  "  It  would  give,"  said  Gen. 
James  Hamilton,  *'  a  Gibraltar  to  the  South ;  "  and 
"  Texas  or  disunion !  "  became  the  Southern  war-cry. 
Mr.  Webster,  with  the  Whig  party,  opposed  the  an 
nexation  ;  and  Mr.  Van  Bur  en  said  it  would  "  in  all 
human  probability  draw  after  it  a  war  with  Mexico." 
On  this  question  turned  the  election  of  James  K. 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  65 

Polk,  in  1844 ;  and  three  days  previous  to  the  expira 
tion  of  his  term  of  office,  John  Tyler  signed  the  bill 
for  the  annexation  of  Texas  to  the  United  States. 
On  the  4th  of  July,  1845,  the  Texan  legislature  ap 
proved  the  bill  of  annexation ;  and  on  the  same  day 
Charles  Suniner  first  came  into  the  political  arena  by 
the  delivery  of  his  great  speech  on  the  THE  TRUE 
GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS  before  the  authorities  of  the 
city  of  Boston.  In  this  celebrated  address  —  pre 
pared  to  meet  the  impending  war  with  Mexico,  and 
the  consequent  extension  of  the  slave  power  —  Mr. 
Sumner  argues  against  the  ordeal  of  war,  from  a 
Christian  stand-point ;  and  establishes  his  positions  by 
a  remarkable  affluence  of  learning,  presented  with  a 
warm  enthusiasm  and  in  a  most  felicitous  diction. 
The  address  produced  a  profound  sensation,  and  was 
sharply  criticised  by  the  advocates  of  the  war-policy , 
but  the  English  patriot  Richard  Cobden  did  not  hesi 
tate  to  pronounce  it  "  the  most  noble  contribution 
made  by  any  modern  writer  to  the  cause  of  peace." 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Sumner,  Mr.  Justice  Story  says 
of  the  oration,  "  It  is  certainly  a  very  striking  pro 
duction,  and  will  fully  sustain  your  reputation  for 
high  talents,  various  reading,  and  exact  scholarship. 
There  are  a  great  many  passages  in  it  which  are 
wrought  out  with  an  exquisite  finish  and  elegance 
of  diction  and  classical  beauty." 


66  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

From  Theodore  Parker,  Mr.  Sumner  received  the 
following  characteristic  note,  which  opened  the  way 
to  a  permanent  friendship  between  these  two  in 
trepid  advocates  of  human  rights  :  — 

"  I  hope  you  will  excuse  one  so  nearly  a  stranger 
to  you  as  myself,  for  addressing  you  this  note.  But 
I  cannot  forbear  writing.  I  have  just  read  your 
oration  on  the  '  True  Grandeur  of  Nations '  for  the 
second  time,  and  write  to  express  to  you  my  sense 
of  the  great  value  of  that  work,  and  my  gratitude 
to  you  for  delivering  it  on  such  an  occasion.  Bos 
ton  is  a  queer  little  city.  The  public  is  a  desperate 
tyrant  there ;  and  it  is  seldom  that  one  dares  disobey 
the  commands  of  public  opinion.  I  know  the  re 
proaches  you  have  already  received  from  your  friends, 
who  will  now  perhaps  become  your  foes.  I  have 
heard  all  sorts  of  ill  motives  attributed  to  you,  and 
know  that  you  must  suffer  attack  from  men  of  low 
morals,  who  can  only  swear  by  their  party,  and  who 
live  only  in  public  opinion. 

"  I  hope  you  will  find  a  rich  reward  in  the  cer 
tainty  that  you  have  done  a  duty  and  service  to 
mankind." 

The  oration  abounds  in  narratives  and  illustra 
tions  of  remarkable  beauty  and  impressiveness, 
as  for  example  :  — 

"  In  our  age,  there  can  be  no  peace  that  is  not 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  67 

honorable :  there  can  be  no  war  that  is  not  dishon 
orable.  The  true  honor  of  a  nation  is  to  be  found 
only  in  deeds  of  justice  and  beneficence,  securing 
the  happiness  of  its  people,  —  all  of  which  are  in 
consistent  with  war.  In  the  clear  eye  of  Christian 
judgment,  vain  are  its  victories,  infamous  are  its 
spoils.  He  is  the  true  benefactor,  and  alone  worthy 
of  honor,  who  brings  comfort  where  before  was 
wretchedness;  who  dries  the  tear  of  sorrow;  who 
pours  oil  into  the  wounds  of  the  unfortunate ;  who 
feeds  the  hungry,  and  clothes  the  naked ;  who  un 
looses  the  fetter  of  the  slave ;  who  does  justice ; 
who  enlightens  the  ignorant ;  who,  by  his  virtuous 
genius,  in  art,  in  literature,  in  science,  enlivens  and 
exalts  the  hours  of  life;  who,  by  words  or  actions, 
inspires  a  love  for  God  and  for  man.  This  is  the 
Christian  hero :  this  is  the  man  of  honor  in  a  Chris 
tian  land.  He  is  no  benefactor,  nor  deserving  of 
honor,  whatever  his  worldly  renown,  whose  life  is 
passed  in  acts  of  brute  force ;  who  renounces  the 
great  law  of  Christian  brotherhood ;  whose  vocation 
is  blood.  Well  may  old  Sir  Thomas  Browne  ex 
claim,  'The  world  does  not  know  its  greatest 
men  ! '  for  thus  far  it  has  chiefly  discerned  the  vio 
lent  brood  of  battle,  the  armed  men  springing  up 
from  the  dragon's  teeth  sown  by  hate  ;  and  cared 
little  for  the  truly  good  men,  children  of  love,  guilt- 


68  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

less  of  their  country's  blood,  whose  steps  on  earth 
have  been  noiseless  as  an  angel's  wing." 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  passages,  however,  in 
this  eloquent  speech,  is  Mr.  Sumner's  declaration  of 
his  opposition  to  the  system  of  slavery.  It  has  been 
said  that  he  commenced  the  reading  of  "  The  Liber 
ator,"  the  guiding  star  of  freedom,  anterior  to  Mr. 
Wendell  Phillips,  whose  eloquent  voice  had  long 
before  been  heard  in  anti-slavery  assemblages ;  but 
it  appears  that  this  was  Mr.  Sumner's  first  open, 
public  avowal  of  his  sentiments  in  respect  to  the 
rights  of  the  colored  race.  He  was  led,  undoubt 
edly,  to  espouse  their  cause,  not  from  any  desire  of 
political  advancement  or  emolument,  but  simply 
from  his  profound  sense  of  justice,  and  his  love  of 
human  right  and  liberty.  In  reference  to  the  liber 
ation  of  the  slave,  he  says,  — 

"  What  glory  of  battle  in  England's  annals  will 
not  fade  by  the  side  of  that  great  act  of  justice 
by  which  her  parliament,  at  a  cost  of  one  hundred 
million  dollars,  gave  freedom  to  eight  hundred  thou 
sand  slaves !  And  when  the  day  shall  come  (may 
those  eyes  be  gladdened  by  its  beams !)  that  shall 
witness  an  act  of  greater  justice  still,  —  the  peace 
ful  emancipation  of  three  millions  of  our  fellow-men, 
'  guilty  of  a  skin  not  colored  as  our  own,'  now,  in 
this  land  of  jubilant  freedom,  held  in  gloomy  bond- 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNEE.  69 

age,  —  then  shall  there  be  a  victory,  in  comparison 
with  which  that  of  Bunker  Hill  shall  be  as  a  farth 
ing  candle  held  up  to  the  sun.  That  victory  shall 
need  no  monument  of  stone.  It  shall  be  written 
on  the  grateful  hearts  of  uncounted  multitudes, 
that  shall  proclaim  it  to  the  latest  generation.  It 
shall  be  one  of  the  famed  landmarks  of  civilization ; 
nay,  more,  it  shall  be  one  of  the  links  in  the  golden 
chain  by  which  humanity  shall  connect  itself  with 
the  throne  of  God." 

This  masterly  production,  though  containing  some 
views  upon  the  war-question  which  Mr.  Sumner 
himself  afterwards  was  led  to  modify,  brought  him 
at  once  to  the  front  rank  of  the  great  orators 
of  his  time. 

It  has  been  said,  that,  in  making  researches  for  this 
speech,  Mr.  Sumner's  thoughts  were  first  directed 
to  the  dreadful  iniquity  of  the  slave  system.  He 
found  that  it  implied  a  state  of  continual  war,  and 
therefore  came  to  the  determination  to  employ  in  its 
overthrow  whatever  ability  he  possessed. 

Although  the  conditions  of  annexation  had  been 
accepted  by  its  legislature,  Texas  had  not  yet  actu 
ally  become  a  State  of  the  Republic.  Strenuous 
efforts  were  therefore  made  by  the  friends  of  free 
dom  to  prevent  the  consummation  of  this  slavehold- 
ing  scheme.  Conventions  were  held,  petitions 


70  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

signed,  in  various  sections  of  our  State,  and  eloquent 
speeches  made  by  Edmund  Quincy,  Henry  Wilson, 
Theodore  Parker,  William  Henry  Channing,  R.  W. 
Emerson,  and  others,  with  the  design  of-  influencing 
Congress  on  the  final  vote.  On  the  4th  of  November, 
1845,  a  large  meeting  was  held  in  Faneuil  Hall  in 
Boston,  at  which  resolutions  drawn  up  by  Mr.  Sum- 
ner  were  presented,  setting  forth  that  the  annexation 
of  Texas  was  sought  for  the  purpose  of  increasing 
the  market  in  human  flesh,  of  extending  and  perpet 
uating  slavery,  and  of  securing  political  power,  and 
in  the  name  of  God,  of  Christ,  and  of  humanity, 
protesting  against  its  admission  as  a  slave  State. 
These  resolutions  were  eloquently  and  earnestly  sup 
ported  by  Mr.  Sumner,  Mr.  John  G.  Palfrey,  Mr. 
Wendell  Phillips,  Mr.  W.  L.  Garrison,  and  other 
able  advocates  of  freedom. 

During  his  remarks  Mr.  Sumner  eloquently  ex 
claimed  :  — 

"  God  forbid  that  the  votes  and  voices  of  the  free 
men  of  the  North  should  help  to  bind  anew  the  fet 
ter  of  the  slave !  God  forbid  that  the  lash  of  the 
slave-dealer  should  be  nerved  by  any  sanction  from 
New  England !  God  forbid  that  the  blood  which 
spurts  from  the  lacerated,  quivering  flesh  of  the 
slave  should  soil  the  hem  of  the  white  garments  of 
Massachusetts ! " 


OF   CHAKLES   SUMNEB.  71 

He  also  introduced  into  this  speech,  as  descriptive 
of  a  Northern  man  with  Southern  principles,  his  apt 
comparison  of  the  iron  bolts  of  the  ship  drawn  out 
by  the  magnetic  mountain  of  the  Arabian  story. 

"  Let  Massachusetts  continue  to  be  known  as  fore 
most  in  the  cause  of  freedom ;  and  let  none  of  her 
children  yield  to  the  fatal  dalliance  with  slavery. 
You  will  remember  the  Arabian  story  of  the  magic 
mountain,  under  whose  irresistible  attraction  the  iron 
bolts  which  held  together  the  strong  timbers  of  a 
stately  ship  were  drawn  out,  till  the  whole  fell  apart 
and  became  a  disjointed  wreck.  ••  Do  we  not  find  in 
this  story  an  image  of  what  happens  to  many  Nor 
thern  men  under  the  potent  magnetism  of  Southern 
companionship  or  Southern  influence  ?  Those  prin 
ciples  which  constitute  the  individuality  of  the  Nor 
thern  character,  which  render  it  staunch,  strong,  and 
seaworthy,  which  bind  it  together  as  with  iron,  are 
drawn  out  one  by  one,  like  the  bolts  from  the  ill- 
fated  vessel ;  and  out  of  the  miserable,  loosened  frag 
ments  is  formed  that  human  anomaly,  —  a  Northern 
man  with  Southern  principles.  Such  a  man  is  no  true 
son  of  Massachusetts." 

"  This,"  says  Mr.  Henry  Wilson  in  his  invaluable 
"  History  of  the  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power  in 
America,"  "  was  the  first  public  participation  of  Mr. 
Suniner  in  that  great  conflict  in  which  he  subse- 


72  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

quently  bore  a  part  so  important  and  honorable. 
His  speech  and  the  resolutions  from  his  pen  were 
based  on  the  fixed  and  indestructible  principles  of 
justice,  humanity,  and  moral  rectitude.  Stating 
that  the  object  of  the  meeting  was  to  strengthen  the 
hearts  and  hands  of  those  opposed  to  the  admission 
of  Texas  into  the  family  of  States,  and  referring  to 
the  voices  of  discouragement  they  heard,  that  all 
exertion  would  be  in  vain,  he  declared  that  their 
efforts  could  not  fail  to  accomplish  great  good,  as  no 
act  of  self-sacrifice  and  devotion  to  duty  can  ever  be 
without  its  reward.  Such  an  act  as  theirs,  he  said, 
must  ever  stand  as  a  landmark ;  and  4  future  cham 
pions  of  equal  rights  and  human  brotherhood  will 
derive  new  strength  from  these  exertions.'  4  Massa 
chusetts,'  he  said,  '  must  continue  foremost  in  the 
cause  of  freedom  ;  nor  can  her  children  yield  to 
dalliance  with  slavery.  They  must  resist  it  at  all 
times,  and  be  fore-armed  against  its  fatal  influence.' 
He  closed  by  expressing  the  hope  that  it  might  be 
hereafter  among  the  praises  of  Massachusetts  that 
on  this  occasion  she  knew  so  well  how  to  say 
4 No ! '" 

Mr.  Sumner  here  stood  boldly  forth,  and  announced 
the  course  he  had  elected ;  and  to  it  he  adhered,  with 
the  unwavering  steadiness  of  one  whose  feet  are 
planted  on  the  everlasting  rock  of  TRUTH,  until  the 


OF   CHARLES   STTMNER.  73 

termination  of  his  life.  He  had  made  the  liberation 
of  the  slave  a  most  profound  constitutional  and  legal 
study.  He  had  prepared  himself  to  invest  the  ques 
tion  with  the  charms  of  eloquence  and  poetry.  He 
had  access  to  the  halls  of  learning.  He  had  gained 
position  as  an  orator  and  a  scholar ;  and  therefore  his 
assumption  of  the  advocacy  of  human  freedom  was 
of  immense  importance  to  the  cause.  In  him  the 
prophet  saw  the  leader  of  the  young  men  of  culture 
and  of  learning  in  the  coming  crusade  against  op 
pression  ;  and  through  his  voice  the  advanced  heralds 
of  human  freedom  spoke.  Bitter  opposition  he  en 
countered  ;  but  his  course  was  chosen. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

Mr.  Simmer's  Eulogy  on  Mr.  Justice  Story.  —  His  Tribute  to  the 
Memory  of  John  Pickering.  —  Oration  before  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa 
Society  of  Harvard  University.— Reference  to  Dr.  Channing.— 
Eloquent  Extract  from  the  Oration.  —  Mr.  Simmer's  Method  of 
Meeting  the  Slave  Power.  — His  Compliment  to  John  Q.  Adams.  — 
His  Apostrophe  to  Daniel  Webster.  —His  Letter  to  R.  C.  Wintlirop. 

—  His  Distrust  of  the  Whig  Party.  —  Argument  on  the  Validity  of 
Enlistments.  —  Speech  on  the  War,  in  Faneuil  Hall.  —  "White 
Slaveiy  in  the  Barbary  States." — His  Interest  in  Prison  Discipline. 

—  Oration  on  "Fame  and  Glory." — Extract  from  the  Same. — 
Speech  in  the  Whig  Convention  at  Springfield. 

"Et  magis,  magisque  viri  nunc  gloria  claret." 
"Rest  not  !  life  is  sweeping  by: 
Go  and  dare  before  you  die. 
Something  mighty  and  sublime 

Leave  behind  to  conquer  time." 

GOETHE. 

]N  the  autumn  of  this  year  (1845),  Mr.  Sum- 
ner  was  called  to  mourn  the  loss  by  death 
of  his  beloved  friend  and  counsellor,  Chief 
Justice  Story,  whom  Lord  Campbell  characterized  in 
the  House  of  Lords  as  "  the  first  of  living  writers  on 
the  law."  In  "  The  Boston  Daily  Advertiser,"  Sept. 
16,  1845,  there  appeared  from  Mr.  Sumner's  hand  a 
most  eloquent  and  discriminating  eulogy  of  this  great 

74 


CHAKLES   SUMNER.  75 

American  jurist.  In  it  lie  says,  "  It  has  been  my 
fortune  to  know  or  see  trie  chief  jurists  of  our  times 
in  the  classical  countries  of  jurisprudence,  —  France 
and  Germany.  I  remember  well  the  pointed  and 
effective  style  of  Dupin,  on  the  delivery  of  one  of 
his  masterly  opinions  in  the  highest  court  of  France ; 
I  recall  the  pleasant  converse  of  Pardessus,  to  whom 
commercial  and  maritime  law  is  under  a  larger  debt, 
perhaps,  than  to  any  other  mind,  while  he  descanted 
on  his  favorite  theme ;  I  wander  in  fancy  to  the 
gentle  presence  of  him  with  flowing  silver  locks,  who 
was  so  dear  to  Germany,  —  Thibaut,  the  expounder 
of  the  Roman  law,  and  the  earnest  and  successful 
advocate  of  a  just  scheme  for  the  reduction  of  the 
unwritten  law  to  the  certainty  of  a  written  text ; 
from  Heidelberg  I  fly  to  Berlin,  where  I  listen  to  the 
grave  lecture  and  mingle  in  the  social  circle  of  Sa- 
vigny,  so  stately  in  person  and  peculiar  in  counte 
nance,  whom  all  the  continent  of  Europe  delights  to 
honor :  but  my  heart  and  my  judgment,  untrammelled, 
fondly  turn  to  my  Cambridge  teacher  and  friend. 
Jurisprudence  has  many  arrows  in  her  golden  quiver ; 
but  where  is  one  to  compare  with  that  which  is  now 
spent  in  the  earth?  ...  I  remember  him  in  my 
childhood ;  but  I  first  knew  him  after  he  came  to 
Cambridge  as  professor  while  I  was  yet  an  under 
graduate  ;  and  remember  freshly,  as  if  the  words 


7b  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

were  of  yesterday,  the  eloquence  and  animation  with 
which  at  that  time,  to  a  youthful  circle,  he  enforced 
the  beautiful  truth  that  no  man  stands  in  the  way  of 
another.  '  The  world  is  wide  enough  for  all,'  he 
said,  '  and  no  success  which  may  crown  our  neighbor 
can  affect  our  own  career.' ' 

Mr.  Sumner  prepared  for  "  The  Law  Reporter  "  of 
June,  1846,  another  beautiful  tribute,  to  the  memory 
of  the  eminent  scholar  John  Pickering,  who  died 
on  the  5th  of  May  preceding ;  and,  in  the  course  of 
the  eulogy  of  his  friend,  indicates  the  magic  of  his 
own  success  :  "  His  talisman,"  said  he,  "  was  indus 
try.  He  was  pleased  in  referring  to  those  rude  inhabit 
ants  of  Tartary,  who  placed  idleness  in  the  torments 
of  the  world  to  come  ;  and  often  remembered  the  beau 
tiful  proverb  in  his  Oriental  studies,  that  by  labor  the 
leaf  of  the  mulberry-tree  is  turned  to  silk.  His  life 
is  a  perpetual  commentary  on  those  words  of  untrans 
latable  beauty  in  the  great  Italian  poet :  — 

'  Seggendo  in  piuma, 
In  f  ama  non  si  vien,  nk  sotto  coltre  : 
Senza  la  qual  chi  sua  vita  consuma 
Cotal  vestigio  in  terra  di  se  lascia, 
Qual  fump  in  aere  ed  in  acqua  la  schiuma.'  " 

DANTE,  Inferno,  Canto  xxv. 

On  the  twenty-seventh  day  of  August,  1846,  Mr. 
Sumner  pronounced  his  splendid  oration  on  "  The 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  77 

Scholar,  the  Jurist,  the  Artist,  the  Philanthropist," 
before  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society  of  Harvard  Uni 
versity  ;  in  which  he  eloquently  portrays  the  charac 
ters,  and  commemorates  the  names,  of  his  illustrious 
friends,  John  Pickering,  Joseph  Story,  Washington 
Allston,  and  William  Ellery  Channing,  each  of  whom 
had  but  recently  finished  his  career.  This  oration 
abounds  with  singular  affluence  of  illustration,  and 
with  glowing  thoughts  clothed  in  choice  and  elegant 
language.  From  it  the  authors  of  our  best  school 
reading-books  have  drawn  several  passages  as  models 
for  the  student.  At  the  dinner  following  the  deliv 
ery  of  this  admirable  discourse,  John  .Quincy  Adams 
justly  gave  this  sentiment :  "  The  memory  of  the 
scholar,  the  jurist,  the  artist,  the  philanthropist ;  and 
not  the  memory,  but  the  long  life,  of  the  kindred 
spirit  who  has  this  day  embalmed  them  all." 

In  characterizing  the  eloquence  of  Channing,  the 
orator  unconsciously  described  himself:  "His  elo 
quence  had  not  the  character  and  fashion  of  forensic 
efforts  or  parliamentary  debates.  It  ascended  above 
these,  into  an  atmosphere  as  yet  unattempted  by  the 
applauded  orators  of  the  world.  Whenever  he 
spoke  or  wrote,  it  was  with  the  loftiest  aims,  —  not 
for  display,  not  to  advance  himself,  not  for  any 
selfish  purpose,  not  in  human  strife,  not  in  any 
question  of  pecuniary  advantage ;  but  in  the  service 

7* 


78  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

I 

of  religion  and  benevolence,  to  promote  the  love  of 
God  and  man.  In  these  exalted  themes  are  untried 
founts  of  truest  eloquence." 

His  peroration  glows  with  hope,  and  seems  almost 
prophetic :  — 

"  Go  forth  into  the  many  mansions  of  the  house  of 
life.  Scholars,  store  them  with  learning;  jurists, 
build  them  with  justice  ;  artists,  adorn  them  with 
beauty  ;  philanthropists,  let  them  resound  with  love* 
Be  servants  of  truth,  each  in  his  vocation ;  doers  of 
the  word,  and  not  hearers  only.  Be  sincere,  pure 
in  heart,  earnest,  enthusiastic.  .  .  .  Like  Pickering, 
blend  humility  with  learning.  Like  Story,  ascend 
above  the  present  in  place  and  time.  Like  Allston, 
regard  fame  only  as  the  eternal  shadow  of  excellence. 
Like  Channing,  bend  in  adoration  of  the  right.  Cul 
tivate  alike  the  wisdom  of  experience,  and  the  wis 
dom  of  hope.  Mindful  of  the  future,  do  not  neglect 
the  past :  awed  by  the  majesty  of  antiquity,  turn  not 
with  indifference  from  the  future.  True  wisdom 
looks  to  the  ages  before  us  as  well  as  behind  us. 
Like  the  Janus  of  the  Capitol,  one  front  thoughtfully 
regards  the  past,  rich  with  experience,  with  mem 
ories,  with  the  priceless  traditions  of  virtue :  the 
other  is  earnestly  directed  to  the  All  Hail  Hereafter, 
richer  still  with  its  transcendent  hopes  and  unfulfilled 
prophecies. 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  79 

"  We  stand  on  the  threshold  of  a  new  age,  which  is 
preparing  to  recognize  new  influences.  The  ancient 
divinities  of  violence  and  wrong  are  retreating  to 
their  kindred  darkness.  The  sun  of  our  moral  uni 
verse  is  entering  a  new  ecliptic,  no  longer  deformed 
by  those  images  Cancer,  Taurus,  Leo,  Sagittarius, 
but  beaming  with  mild  radiance  of  those  heavenly 
signs,  Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity. 

'  There's  a  fount  about  to  stream ; 
There's  a  light  about  to  beam ; 
There's  a  warmth  about  to  glow; 
There's  a  flower  about  to  blow ; 
There's  a  midnight  blackness  changing 

Into  gray : 
Men  of  thought  and  men  of  action, 

Clear  the  way ! 

Aid  the  dawning,  tongue  and  pen  ; 
Aid  it,  hopes  of  honest  men ; 
Aid  it,  paper ;  aid  it,  type ; 
Aid  it,  for  the  hour  is  ripe, 
And  our  earnest  must  not  slacken 

Into  play : 
Men  of  thought  and  men  of  action, 

Clear  the  way  1 ' 

"  The  age  of  chivalry  has  gone.  An  age  of  human 
ity  has  come.  The  horse,  whose  importance,  more 
than  human,  gave  the  name  to  that  early  period  of 


80  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

gallantry  and  war,  now  yields  his  foremost  place  to 
man.  In  serving  him,  in  promoting  his  elevation,  in 
contributing  to  his  welfare,  in  doing  him  good,  there 
are  fields  of  bloodless  triumph  nobler  far  than  any  in 
which  Bayard  or  Du  Guesclin  ever  conquered.  Here 
are  spaces  of  labor  wide  as  the  world,  lofty  as  heaven. 
Let  me  say,  then,  in  the  benison  once  bestowed  upon 
the  youthful  knight :  Scholars,  jurists,  artists,  philan 
thropists,  heroes  of  a  Christian  age,  companions  of  a 
celestial  knighthood, '  Go  forth ;  be  brave,  be  loyal, 
and  successful.' ' 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Sumner  dated  September,  1846, 
Theodore  Parker  says  :  — 

"I  thank  you  most  heartily  for  your  noble  and 
beautiful  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Address.  It  did  me  good  to 
read  it.  I  like  it,  like  it  all,  all  over  and  all  through. 
I  like  especially  what  you  say  of  Allston  and  Chan- 
ning.  That  sounds  like  the  Christianity  of  the  nine 
teenth  century,  the  application  of  religion  to  lifs. 
You  have  said  a  strong  word,  and  a  beautiful, — 
planted  a  seed  t  out  of  which  many  and  tall  branches 
shall  arise,'  I  hope.  The  people  are  always  true  to  a 
good  man  who  truly  trusts  them.  You  have  had  op 
portunity  to  see,  hear,  and  feel  the  truth  of  that 
oftener  than  once.  I  think  you  will  have  enough 
more  opportunities  yet :  men  will  look  for  deeds 
noble  as  the  words  a  man  speaks.  I  take  these  words 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  81 

as  an  earnest  of  a  life  full  of  deeds  of  that  heroic 
sort."  —  See  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Theodore 
Parker,  vol.  i.,  p.  316. 

Mr.  Sumner  was  no  revolutionist.  vJJe  held  in  pro 
found  reverence  the  organic  law  of  the  land.  He 
would  meet  the  commanding  question  of  slavery  on 
constitutional  grounds  alone.  He  believed  that  the 
provisions  of  the  constitution  in  favor  of  the  slave 
holder  were  merely  temporary,  and  that  the  instru 
ment  itself,  which  nowhere  speaks  of  the  slave  as  a 
chattel  or  recognized  slavery  as  an  institution,  was 
framed  in  the  expectation  that  the  inhuman  traffic 
in  flesh  and  blood  would  be  soon  abandoned. 

"  There  is,"  said  he,  in  an  able  speech  before  the 
Whig  State  Convention  at  Faneuil  Hall,  Sept. 
23,  1846,. "  no  compromise  on  the  subject  of  slavery, 
of  a  character  not  to  be  reached  legally  and  constitu 
tionally,  which  is  the  only  way  in  which  I  propose 
to  reach  it.  Wherever  power  and  jurisdiction  are 
secured  to  Congress,  they  may  unquestionably  be 
exercised  in  conformity  with  the  constitution.  And 
even  in  matters  beyond  existing  powers  and  jurisdic 
tion,  there  is  a  constitutional  method  of  action.  The 
constitution  contains  an  article  pointing  out,  how, 
at  any  time,  amendments  may  be  made  thereto. 
This  is  an  important  element,  giving  to  the  consti 
tution  a  progressive  character,  and  allowing  it  to  be 


82  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

moulded  to  suit  new  exigencies  and  new  conditions 
of  feeling.  The  wise  framers  of  this  instrument  did 
not  treat  the  country  as  a  Chinese  foot,  —  never  to 
grow  after  its  infancy, — but  anticipated  the  changes 
incident  to  its  growth." 
Assuming  as  a  watchword,  "  REPEAL  OF  SLAVERY 

CINDER  THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  LAWS  OF  THE  FEDERAL 

GOVERNMENT,"  he  said :  "  The  time  has  passed 
when  this  can  be  opposed  on  constitutional  grounds. 
It  will  not  be  questioned  by  any  competent  author 
ity  that  Congress  may  by  express  legislation  abol 
ish  slavery,  first  in  the  District  of  Columbia ;  second 
in  the  Territories,  if  there  should  be  any ;  third,  that 
it  may  abolish  the  slave-trade  on  the  high  seas  be 
tween  the  States ;  fourth,  that  it  may  refuse  to 
admit  any  new  State  with  a  constitution  sanction 
ing  slavery.  Nor  can  it  be  questioned  that  the  peo 
ple  of  the  United  States  may,  in  the  manner  pointed 
out  by  the  Constitution,  proceed  to  its  amendment. 
It  is,  then,  by  constitutional  legislation,  and  even  by 
amendment  of  the  Constitution,  that  slavery  may  be 
reached." 

Mr.  Sumner  then  paid  this  brief,  but  memorable 
compliment  to  John  Quincy  Adams,  "  the  old  man 
eloquent,"  who,  as  a  true  representative  of  the 
anti-slavery  sentiment  of  the  North,  was  fearlessly 
opposing  the  aggressions  of  the  slaveholding  power : 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  83 

"  Massachusetts  has  a  venerable  representative, 
whose  aged  bosom  still  glows  with  inextinguishable 
fires,  like  the  central  heats  of  the  monarch  moun 
tain  of  the  Andes  beneath  its  canopy  of  snow.  To 
this  cause  he  dedicates  the  closing  energies  of  a 
long  and  illustrious  life.  Would  that  all  would  join 
him  !  "  He  then,  in  this  bold  apostrophe,  addresses 
Daniel  Webster  of  the  Senate,  and  points  out  a 
policy  which  it  had  been  well  for  the  imperious 
leader  of  the  old  Whig  party  to  have  heeded: 
"  Dedicate,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Sumner,  "  the  golden  years 
of  experience  happily  in  store  for  you,  to  the  grand 
endeavor,  in  the  name  of  freedom,  to  remove  from 
your  country  its  greatest  evil.  In  this  cause  you 
shall  find  inspirations  to  eloquence  higher  than  any 
you  have  yet  confessed. 

*  To  heavenly  themes  sublimer  strains  belong.' 

u  Do  not  shrink  from  the  task.  With  your  marvel 
lous  powers,  and  the  auspicious  influences  of  an 
awakened  public  sentiment,  under  God,  who  always 
smiles  upon  conscientious  labors  for  the  welfare  of 
man,  we  may  hope  for  beneficent  results. 

"  Assume,  then,  these  unperformed  duties.  The 
aged  shall  bear  witness  to  you ;  the  young  shall  kin 
dle  with  rapture  as  they  repeat '  the  name  of  '  Web 
ster  ; '  and  the  large  company  of  the  ransomed  shall 


84  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

teach  their  children's  children,  to  the  latest  genera 
tion,  to  call  you  blessed ;  while  all  shall  award  to 
you  yet  another  title,  which  shall  never  be  forgot 
ten  on  earth  or  in  heaven,  —  Defender  of  Humanity  ; 
by  the  side  of  which  that  earlier  title  shall  fade  into 
insignificance,  as  the  constitution,  which  is  the 
work  of  mortal  hands,  dwindles  by  the  side  of  man, 
who  is  created  in  the  image  of  God." 

In  a  characteristic  letter  to  Eobert  C.  Winthrop, 
dated  Oct.  25,  1846,  Mr.  Sumner  sharply  criticises 
that  gentleman's  course  in  respect  to  the  Mexican 
War ;  charging  him  with  want  of  sympathy  "  with 
those  who  seek  to  carry  into  our  institutions  that 
practical  conscience  which  declares  it  to  be  equally 
wrong  in  individuals  and  in  states  to  sanction 
slavery."  "  Through  you,"  continues  Mr.  Sumner, 
"they  [the  Bostonians]  have  been  made  to  declare 
an  unjust  and  cowardly  war  with  falsehood  in  the 
cause  of  slavery.  Through  you  they  have  been  made 
partakers  in  the  blockade  of  Vera  Cruz,  in  the  seiz 
ure  of  California,  in  the  capture  of  Santa  Fe,  in  the 
bloodshed  of  Monterey.  It  were  idle  to  suppose 
that  the  poor  soldier  or  officer  only,  is  stained  by 
this  guilt.  It  reaches  far  back,  and  incarnadines  the 
halls  of  Congress  ;  nay,  more,  —  through  you  it  red 
dens  the  hands  of  your  constituents  in  Boston ; " 
and  he  concludes  the  letter  by  the  assertion  that 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNEK.  85 

more  than  one  of  his  neighbors  will  be  obliged  to 

say,— 

"  Cassio,  I  love  thee, 

But  never  more  be  officer  of  mine." 

In  this  forcible  letter,  the  writer  uses  these  memo 
rable  words  indicating  the  eternal  source  of  rectitude 
as  the  guide  for  the  settlement  of  the  great  political 
question :  "  Aloft  on  the  throne  of  God,  and  not 
below  in  the  footprints  of  a  trampling  multitude  of 
men,  are  to  be  found  the  sacred  rules  of  right,  which 
no  majorities  can  displace  or  overturn." 

In  a  speech  against  the  Mexican  War  at  a  public 
meeting  in  November  following,  when  Dr.  Samuel 
G.  Howe  was  brought  forward  as  a  Congressional 
candidate  in  opposition  to  Mr.  Winthrop,  Mr. 
Sumner  said,  "It  is  with  the  Whigs  that  I  have 
heretofore  acted,  and  may  hereafter  act ;  always  con 
fessing  a  loyalty  to  principles  higher  than  any  party 
ties." 

On  this  solid  platform  of  conscience  and  of  duty, 
dealing  his  blows  against  the  peculiar  institution, 
Mr.  Sumner  proudly  stood.  He  clearly  saw  and 
openly  rebuked  the  subservience  of  his  party  to  the 
slaveocracy  of  the  South ;  and  though  not  then  an 
aspirant  for  political  power,  he  caught  prophetic 
glimpses  of  a  rupture  in  the  Whig  organization,  and 
of  the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  right.  With  the 


86  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

uncompromising  Garrison  he  had  not  yet  come  into 
sympathy ;  but  within  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  he  declared  himself  an  eternal  foe  to  slavery. 
His  wing  of  the  party  soon  received  the  title  of 
"  Conscience  Whigs ;  "  and  conscience  over  might  or 
cotton  will  eventually  prevail. 

Mr.  Sumner  was  not  for  a  moment  idle.  In  Jan 
uary,  1847,  he  made  a  very  able  argument  before 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts,  against  the 
validity  of  enlistments  in  the  regiment  of  volunteers 
raised  by  the  State  for  the  Mexican  War.  As  counsel 
for  one  of  the  petitioners,  he  argued  that  the  act  of 
Congress  of  1846,  providing  for  the  officering  of  the 
companies,  was  in  some  of  the  provisions  unconsti 
tutional,  that  the  enlistments  were  not  in  accordance 
with  that  act,  that  the  militia  acts  of  Massachusetts 
had  been  fraudulently  used  in  forming  the  regiment, 
and  also  that  a  minor  could  not  be  held  by  his  con 
tract  of  enlistment  under  the  act.  The  validity  of 
proceedings  was  sustained ;  but  the  minors  were 
discharged.  On  the  4th  of  February  following,  he 
made  a  short  but  telling  speech  in  Faneuil  Hall, 
for  the  withdrawal  of  the  American  troops  from 
Mexico,  in  which  he  said,  "  The  war  is  not  only 
unconstitutional :  it  is  unjust ;  it  is  vile  in  its  object 
and  character.  It  has  its  origin  in  a  well-known 
series  of  measures  to  extend  and  perpetuate  slavery. 


OF   CHAELES   SUMNER.  87 

It  is  a  war  which  must  ever  be  odious  in  history, 
beyond  the  common  measure  allotted  to  the  outrages 
of  brutality  which  disfigure  other  nations  and  times. 
It  is  a  slave-driving  war.  In  its  principle,  it  is  only 
a  little  above  those  miserable  conflicts  between  the 
barbarian  chiefs  of  Central  Africa,  to  obtain  slaves 
for  the  inhuman  markets  of  Brazil.  Such  a  war 
must  be  accursed  in  the  sight  of  God.  Why  is  it 
not  accursed  in  the  sight  of  man? " 

"  Let  a  voice,"  he  eloquently  closing  said,  "  go 
forth  from  Faneuil  Hall  to-night,  awakening  fresh 
echoes  throughout  the  kindly  valleys  of  New  Eng 
land,  swelling  as  it  proceeds,  and  gathering  new 
reverberations  in  its  ample  volume,  traversing  the 
whole  land,  and  still  receiving  other  voices,  till  it 
reaches  our  rulers  at  Washington,  and  in  tones  of 
thunder  demands  the  cessation  of  this  unjust 
war." 

On  the  17th  of  the  same  month  he  read  before 
the  Boston  Mercantile  Library  Association  a  cu 
rious  and  brilliant  paper  on  "  White  Slavery  in  the 
Barbary  States." 

Taking  up  its  origin,  history,  and  character,  he 
brings  into  his  subject  a  surprising  wealth  of  learn 
ing  and  of 'illustration,  drawn  from  English,  French, 
and  Spanish  literature,  and  traces  with  a  masterly 
hand  the  iniquities  of  slavery  in  the  Barbary  States 


88  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

from  the  earliest  times  until  its  final  extinction  by 
Lord  Exmouth,  under  the  direction  of  His  Royal 
Highness  the  Prince  Regent  of  England,  in  1816. 
In  this  discourse  he  adroitly  aims  a  blow  at  slavery 
at  home.  The  theme  was  new,  the  speaker's  heart 
in  sympathy  with  it :  his  researches  were  exhaustive  ; 
and  he  so  graphically  portrays  the  horrors  of  the 
slave  system,  and  so  breathes  the  spirit  of  humanity 
and  Christian  love  into  his  lecture,  as  to  render  it 
a  study  worthy  of  the  enlightened  philanthropist  and 
historian. 

As  gleams  of  golden  light  upon  the  thunder-cloud, 
so  Mr.  Sumner's  tender  sympathies  relieved  the 
gloomy  scenes  which  he  presents.  Thus  glowingly, 
in  a  charming  passage,  his  kind  regard  for  the  unfor 
tunate  breaks  forth :  "  Endeavors  for  freedom  are 
animating ;  nor  can  any  honest  nature  hear  of  them 
without  a  throb  of  sympathy.  As  we  dwell  on  the 
painful  narrative  of  the  unequal  contest  between 
tyrannical  power  and  the  crushed  captive  or  slave, 
we  resolutely  enter  the  lists  on  the  side  of  freedom ; 
and  as  we  behold  the  contest  waged  by  a  few  indi 
viduals,  or  perhaps  by  one  alone,  our  sympathy  is 
given  to  his  weakness  as  well  as  to  his  cause.  To 
him  we  send  the  unfaltering  succor  of  our  good 
wishes.  For  him  we  invoke  vigor  of  arm  to  defend, 
and  fleetness  of  foot  to  escape.  The  enactments  of 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  89 

human  laws  are  vain  to  restrain  the  warm  tides  of 
the  heart.  We  pause  with  rapture  on  those  historic 
scenes  in  which  freedom  has  been  attempted  or  pre 
served  through  the  magnanimous  self-sacrifice  of 
friendship  or  Christian  aid.  With  palpitating  bosom 
we  follow  the  midnight  flight  of  Mary  of  Scotland 
from  the  custody  of  her  stern  jailers ;  we  accompany 
Grotius  in  his  escape  from  prison  in  Holland,  so 
adroitly  promoted  by  his  wife  ;  we  join  with  Lava- 
lette  in  France  in  his  flight,  aided  also  by  his  wife ; 
and  we  offer  our  admiration  and  gratitude  to  Huger 
and  Bollman,  who,  unawed  by  the  arbitrary  ordi 
nances  of  Austria,  strove  heroically,  though  vainly, 
to  rescue  Lafayette  from  the  dungeons  of  Olmutz." 

This  admirable  production,  every  page  of  which 
proclaims  the  scholar  and  the  friend  of  human  liberty, 
was  beautifully  printed  in  1853,  by  John  P.  Jewett 
and  Company,  in  a  volume  with  elegant  illustrations 
by  Edwin  T.  Billings,  and  should  find  a  place  in 
every  library. 

While  abroad,  Mr.  Sumner's  attention  was  natu 
rally  drawn  to  the  condition  of  European  prisons ; 
and  he  availed  himself  of  the  opportunities  afforded 
him  by  intercourse  with  distinguished  friends  of 
humanity,  to  study  their  various  systems  of  disci 
pline.  On  returning  he  continued  his  investigations 
on  this  subject ;  and  in  connection  with  Dr.  Samuel 

8* 


90  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

G.  Howe,  the  Rev.  Francis  Wayland,  and  other  gen 
tlemen,  became  deeply  interested  in  the  course  of 
the  Boston  Prison  Discipline  Society,  and  in  the 
improvement  of  the  condition  of  the  prisons  of  our 
own  country.  Of  the  various  systems  in  vogue,  Mr. 
Sumner  deprecated  that  of  the  promiscuous  commin 
gling  of  prisoners  in  one  company,  and  also  that 
of  absolute  solitude,  endangering  the  health  and  pre 
venting  reformation.  With  the  distinguished  M.  de 
Tocqueville,  he  favored  the  Pennsylvania  system, 
which  embraced  these  elements,  —  separation,  labor  in 
the  cell,  exercise  in  the  open  air,  visits,  and  books,  to 
gether  with  moral  and  religious  instruction.  In  a 
speech  of  much  power  before  the  Boston  Prison  Dis 
cipline  Society,  at  the  Tremont  Temple,  June  18, 
1847,  he  criticised  the  partial  and  inefficient  course  of 
that  body,  and  presented  his  enlightened  views  upon 
the  subject,  which  gave  fresh  impulse  to  the  efforts 
made  for  the  amelioration  of  the  systems  of  our  penal 
institutions. 

The  next  notable  literary  effort  of  Mr.  Sumner 
was  an  address  entitled  "  Fame  and  Glory,"  delivered 
before  the  literary  societies  of  Amherst  College,  at 
their  anniversary,  Aug.  11,  1847.  Although  the 
theme  was  commonplace,  the  genius  of  the  speaker 
unfolded  it  from  such  a  lofty  standpoint,  and  so  af 
fluently  illustrated  it  with  classic  lore,  as  to  impart 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  91 

to  it  the  charm  of  novelty,  and  to  secure  the  warm 
approval  of  the  college  and  the  public.  As  in  his 
oration  on  "  The  True  Grandeur  of  Nations,"  so  in 
this,  he  condemned  the  art  and  the  atrocities  of  war, 
and  breathed  forth  his  aspirations  for  the  reign  of 
universal  peace  and  brotherhood.  His  positions, 
founded  on  the  eternal  principles  of  good-will  to 
man,  of  truth  and  justice,  were  in  advance  of  time, 
and  by  some  persons  deemed  Utopian  ;  but  he  was 
introduced  into  the  world  to  be  a  leader,  not  a  fol 
lower  ;  and,  as  William  Cullen  Bryant  nobly  says,  — 

"  Truth  crushed  to  earth  shall  rise  again : 

The  eternal  years  of  God  are  hers : 

But  Error,  wounded,  writhes  in  pain, 

And  dies  among  his  worshippers." 

After  passing  in  review  the  career  of  warriors,  as 
Alexander,  drunk  with  victory  and  wine  ;  Caesar, 
trampling  on  the  liberties  of  Home  ;  Frederick  of 
Prussia,  playing  the  game  of  robbery  with  human 
lives  for  dice,  —  he  beautifully  says,  "-There  is 
another  and  a  higher  company,  who  thought  little  of 
praise  or  power,  but  whose  lives  shine  before  men 
with  those  good  works  which  truly  glorify  their 
authors.  There  is  Milton,  poor  and  blind,  but  4  ba 
ting  not  a  jot  of  heart  or  hope  ; '  in  an  age  of  igno 
rance,  the  friend  of  education  ;  in  an  age  of  servility 


92  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

and  vice,  the  pure  and  uncontaminated  friend  of 
freedom,  tuning  his  harp  to  those  magnificent  melo 
dies  which  angels  might  stoop  to  hear,  and  confess 
ing  his  supreme  duties  to  humanity  in  words  of  sim 
plicity  and  power.  '  I  am  long  since  persuaded,' 
was  his  declaration,  '  that  to  say  or  do  aught  worth 
memory  and  imitation,  no  purpose  or  respect  should 
sooner  move  us  than  love  of  God  and  mankind.' 
There  is  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  of  France,  once  in  cap 
tivity  in  Algiers.  Obtaining  his  freedom  by  a  happy 
escape,  this  fugitive  slave  devoted  himself  with 
divine  success  to  labors  of  Christian  benevolence,  to 
the  establishment  of  hospitals,  to  visiting  those  in 
prison,  to  the  spread  of  amity  and  peace.  Unknown, 
he  repaired  to  the  galleys  at  Marseilles,  and,  touched 
by  the  story  of  a  poor  convict,  personally  assumed 
his  heavy  chains,  that  he  might  be  excused  to  visit 
his  wife  and  children.  And,  when  France  was  bleed 
ing  with  war,  this  philanthropist  appears  in  a  differ 
ent  scene.  Presenting  himself  to  her  powerful 
minister,  4  the  Cardinal  Richelieu,  on  his  knees  he 
says,  '  Give  us  peace  :  have  pity  upon  us  ;  give  peace 
to  France.'  There  is  Howard,  the  benefactor  of 
those  on  whom  the  world  has  placed  its  brand,  whose 
charity  —  like  that  of  the  Frenchman,  inspired  by 
the  single  desire  of  doing  good  —  penetrated  the 
gloom  of  the  dungeon  as  with  angelic  presence.  '  A 


OF   CHAKLES   SUMNER.  93 

person  of  more  ability,'  lie  says  with  sweet  simpli 
city,  4  with  iny  knowledge  of  facts,  would  have  writ 
ten  better;  but  the  object  of  my  ambition  was  not 
the  fame  of  an  author.  Hearing  the  cry  of  the  misera 
ble,  I  devoted  my  time  to  their  relief.''  And,  lastly, 
there  is  Clarkson,  who  while  yet  a  pupil  of  the 
university  commenced  those  life-long  labors  against 
slavery  and  the  slave-trade,  which  have  embalmed 
his  memory.  Writing  an  essay  on  the  subject  as  a 
college-exercise,  his  soul  warmed  with  the  task ;  and 
at  a  period  when  even  the  horrors  of  the  '  middle 
passage '  had  not  excited  condemnation,  he  entered 
the  lists,  the  stripling  champion  of  the  right.  He  has 
left  a  record  of  the  moment  when  this  duty  seemed 
to  flash  upon  him.  He  was  on  horseback,  on  his  way 
from  Cambridge  to  London.  '  Coming  in  sight  of 
Wade's  Mill,  in  Hertfordshire,'  he  says,  4 1  sat  down 
disconsolate  on  the  turf  by  the  roadside,  and  held  my 
horse.  Here  a  thought  came  over  my  mind,  that,  if 
the  contents  of  my  essay  were  true,  it  was  time  some 
person  should  see  these  calamities  to  their  end.1  Pure 
and  noble  impulse  to  a  beautiful  career ! " 

After  such  exalted  models  Mr.  Sumner  formed 
the  ideal  for  his  own  life.  In  the  Whig  State  Con 
vention  at  Springfield,  Sept.  29,  1847,  he  made  a 
stirring  speech  against  supporting  any  pro-slavery 
man  for  the  presidential  chair,  and  urging  uncom- 


94  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

promising  resistance  against  the  extension  of  slavery 
to  any  territory  to  be  acquired  from  Mexico. 

"  The  Missouri  compromise,  the  annexation  of 
Texas,  the  war  with  Mexico,"  said  he, "  are  only  a  por 
tion  of  the  troubles  caused  by  the  slave-power.  It  is 
an  ancient  fable,  that  the  eruptions  of  Etna  were  pro 
duced  by  the  restless  movements  of  the  giant  Encela- 
dus,  who  was  imprisoned  beneath.  As  he  turned  on 
his  side,  or  stretched  his  limbs,  or  struggled,  the  con 
scious  mountain  belched  forth  flames,  fiery  cinders, 
and  red-hot  lava,  carrying  destruction  and  dismay  to 
all  who  dwelt  upon  its  fertile  slopes.  The  slave- 
power  is  the  imprisoned  giant  of  our  constitution. 
It  is  there  confined  and  bound  to  the  earth.  But  its 
constant  and  strenuous  struggles  have  caused,  and 
ever  will  cause,  eruptions  of  evil  to  our  happy  coun 
try,  in  comparison  with  which  the  flames,  the  fiery 
cinders,  and  red-hot  lava,  of  the  volcano  are  trivial 
and  transitory.  The  face  of  nature  may  be  blasted  ; 
the  land  may  be  struck  with  sterility ;  villages  may 
be  swept  by  floods  of  flame,  and  whole  families 
entombed  alive  in  its  burning  embrace :  but  all  these 
evils  shall  be  small  by  the  side  of  the  deep,  abiding, 
unutterable  curse  of  an  act  of  national  wrong. 

"  Let  us,  then,  pledge  ourselves  in  the  most  solemn 
form,  by  united  exertions  at  least  to  restrain  this 
destructive  influence  within  its  original  constitutional 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  95 

bounds.     Let  us  at  all  hazards  prevent  the  extension 

of  slavery,  and  the  strengthening  of  the  slave-power. 

Our  opposition  must  keep  right   on,  and  not   look 

back. 

'  Like  to  the  Pontic  Sea, 
Whose  icy  current  and  compulsive  course 
Ne'er  feels  retiring  ebb,  but  keeps  due  on 
To  the  Propontic  and  the  Hellespont.' 

In  this  contest,  let  us  borrow  from  the  example  of 
the  ancient  Greek,  who  when  his  hands  were  cut 
off  fought  with  his  stumps,  and  even  with  his 
teeth.  .  .  . 

"  Loyalty  to  principle  is  higher  than  loyalty  to  party. 
The  first  is  a  heavenly  sentiment,  from  God:  the 
other  is  a  device  of  this  earth.  Far  above  any  flick 
ering  light  or  mere  battle-lantern  of  party  is  the 
everlasting  sun  of  truth,  in  whose  beams  are  dis 
played  the  duties  of  men." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Formation  of  the  Free-soil  Party.  —  Defection  of  the  "Whig 
Party.  —  Mr.  Sumner's  Speech  announcing  his  Withdrawal  from 
that  Party. — Aggressions  of  the  Slaveholding  Power.  —  The 
Duty  of  Massachusetts. — The  Commanding  Question. — Mr. 
Sumner's  Oration  on  "  The  Law  of  Human  Progress."  —  Greek 
and  Roman  Civilization.  —  The  Power  of  the  Press.  —  Signs  of 
Progress. —The  Course  of  the  True  Reformer.  —  His  Speech  at 
Faneuil  Hall  on  the  New  Party.  —  His  Leading  Ideas,  Freedom, 
Truth,  and  Justice.  —  Opposition  to  his  .Views.  — The  Unity  of 
Aim  and  the  Advanced  Standing  of  Mr.  Simmer  and  Mr.  Garri 
son. 

"  He  put  to  the  hazard  his  ease,  his  interests,  his  friendship,  even  his  dar 
ling  popularity,  for  the  benefit  of  a  race  of  men  he  had  never  seen,  who  could 
not  even  give  him  thanks.  He  hurt  those  who  were  able  to  requite  a  benefit 
or  punish  an  injury.  He  well  knew  the  snares  that  might  be  spread  about  his 
feet  by  political  intrigue,  personal  animosity,  and  possibly  by  popular  delu 
sion.  This  is  the  path  that  all  heroes  have  trod  before  him.  He  was  traduced 
and  maligned  for  his  supposed  motives.  He  well  knew,  that,  as  in  the  Roman 
triumphal  processions,  so  in  public  service,  obloquy  is  an  essential  ingredient 
in  the  composition  of  all  true  glory."— EDMUND  BUBKE. 

]ARLY  in  1848,  a  small  company  of  reformers, 
among  whom  were  Henry  Wilson,  Stephen 
C.  Phillips,  John  A.  Andrew,  and  Horace 
Mann,  used  to  assemble  frequently  in  the  rooms  of 
Mr.  Sumner  in  Court  Street  to  discuss  the  encroach- 


CHARLES   SUMNER.  97 

ments  of  the  slaveocracy,  and  the  duties  and  delin 
quencies  of  the  Whig  party/__JEEere  indeed  was 
taken  the  first  real  political  anti-slavery  stand  ;  and 
here,  in  view  of  the  subserviency  of  prominent 
Whfgs  to  Southern  rule,  was  inaugurated  the  in 
trepid  Free-soil  party,  whose  leading  policy  was 
free  soil,  free  labor,  free  speech,  free  men,  and  oppo 
sition  to  the  extension  of  slavery  and  of  the  slave- 
holding  power.  As  the  South  became  more  and 
more  intent  on  domination,  the  Whig  party  yielded 
more  and  more  to  its  arrogant  demands,  and,  in  the 
national  convention  held  in  Philadelphia  on  the  first 
day  of  June,  united  with  the  advocates  of  slavery  in 
the  nomination  of  Zachary  Taylor  —  a  slaveholder, 
and  known  to  be  adverse  to  the  Wilmot  Proviso  — for 
the  presidential  chair.  Henry  Wilson  and  Charles 
Allen,  delegates  from  this  State,  denounced  the 
action  of .  the  body  ;  and  returning  home  held  with 
their  associates,  in  the  city  of  Worcester,  on  the 
28th  of  June,  a  grand  mass-meeting,  over  which 
Charles  Francis  Adams  presided.  Able  speeches 
were  made,  calling  for  a  union  of  men  of  all  parties 
to  resist  the  aggression  of  the  slaveholding  power. 
Mr.  Sumner  here  came  forward,  and,  in  a  speech  of 
signal  force  and  earnestness,  announced  in  these 
words  his  separation  from  the  Whig  party :  "  They 
[referring  to  Mr.  Giddings  and  Mr.  Adams,  who 


98  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

had  just  spoken]  have  been  Whigs ;  and  I,  too, 
have  been  a  Whig,  though  4  not  an  ultra  Whig.' 
I  was  so  because  I  thought  this  party  represented 
the  moral  sentiments  of  the  country,  —  that  it  was 
the  party  of  humanity.  It  has  ceased  to  sustain  this 
character.  It  does  not  represent  the  moral  senti 
ments  of  the  country.  It  is  not  the  party  of 
humanity.  A  party  which  renounces  its  sentiments 
must  itself  expect  to  be  renounced.  For  myself,  in 
the  coming  contest,  I  wish  it  to  be  understood  that 
I  belong  to  the  party  of  freedom,  —  to  that  party 
which  plants  itself  on  the  Declaration  of  Indepen 
dence,  and  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

"  As  I  reflect  upon  the  transactions  in  which  we 
are  now  engaged,  I  am  reminded  of  an  incident  in 
French  history.  It  was  late  in  the  night  at  Ver 
sailles  that  a  courtier  of  Louis  XVI.,  penetrating 
the  bed-chamber  of  his  master,  and  arousing  him 
from  his  slumbers,  communicated  to  him  the  intel 
ligence  —  big  with  gigantic  destinies  —  that  the  peo 
ple  of  Paris,  smarting  under  wrong  and  falsehood, 
had  risen  in  their  might,  and,  after  a  severe  contest 
with  hireling  troops,  destroyed  the  Bastile.  The 
unhappy  monarch,  turning  upon  his  couch,  said, 
'  It  is  an  insurrection.''  '  No,  sire,'  was  the  reply 
of  the  honest  courtier:  '  it  is  a  revolution.''  And 
such  is  our  movement  to-day.  It  is  a  revolution, 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  99 

not  beginning  with  the  destruction  of  a  Bastile,  but 
destined  to  end  only  with  the  overthrow  of  a 
tyranny  differing  little  in  hardship  and  audacity 
from  that  which  sustained  the  Bastile  of  France : 
I  mean  the  slave-power  of  the  United  States. 
Let  not  people  start  at  this  similitude.  I  intend  no 
unkindness  to  individual  slaveholders,  many  of 
whom  are  doubtless  humane  and  honest.  And  such 
was  Louis  XVI. ;  and  yet  he  sustained  the  Bastile, 
with  the  untold  horrors  of  its  dungeons,  where 
human  beings  were  thrust  into  companionship  with 
toads  and  rats." 

"  In  the  pursuit  of  its  purposes,"  he  continued, 
"the  slave-power  has  obtained  the  control  of  both 
the  great  political  parties  of  the  country.  Their 
recent  nominations  have  been  made  with  a  view  to 
serve  its  interests,  to  secure  its  supremacy,  and 
especially  to  promote  the  extension  of  slavery.  The 
Whigs  and  Democrats  —  I  use  the  old  names  still  — 
professing  to  represent  conflicting  sentiments,  yet 
concur  in  being  the  representatives  of  the  slave- 
power.  Gen.  Cass,  after  openly  registering  his 
adhesion  to  it,  was  recognized  as  the  candidate  of 
the  Democrats.  Gen.  Taylor,  who  owns  slaves  on  a 
large  scale,  though  observing  a  studious  silence  on 
the  subject  of  slavery,  as  on  all  other  subjects,  is  not 
only  a  representative  of  the  slave-power,  but  an 


100  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

important  and  constituent  part  of  the  power  itself. 
.  .  .  And  now  the  question  occurs,  What  is  the 
true  line  of  duty  with  regard  to  these  two  candi 
dates?  Mr.  Van  Buren  (and  I  honor  him  for  his 
trumpet-call  to  the  North)  sounded  the  true 
note  when  he  said  he  could  not  vote  for  either  of 
them.  Though  nominated  by  different  parties,  they 
represent,  as  I  have  said,  substantially  the  same 
interest, — the  slave-power.  The  election  of  either 
would  be  a  triumph  of  the  slave-power,  and  entail 
upon  the  country,  in  all  probability,  the  sin  of  ex 
tending  slavery.  How,  then,  shall  they  be  encoun 
tered  ?  It  seems  to  me  in  a  very  plain  way.  The 
lovers  of  freedom,  of  all  parties,  and  irrespective  of 
all  party  association,  must  unite,  and,  by  a  new  com 
bination  congenial  with  the  constitution,  oppose 
both  candidates.  This  will  be  the  FREEDOM  POWER, 
whose  single  object  shall  be  to  resist  the  SLAVE 
POWER.  We  will  put  them  face  to  face,  and  let 
them  grapple.  Who  can  doubt  the  result  ?  .  .  . 

"  But  it  is  said  that  we  shall  throw  away  our  votes, 
and  that  our  opposition  will  fail.  Fail,  sir !  No 
honest,  earnest  effort  in  a  good  cause  ever  fails.  It 
may  not  be  crowned  with  the  applause  of  man ;  it 
may  not  seem  to  touch  the  goal  of  immediate  worldly 
success,  which  is  the  end  and  aim  of  so  much  of  life : 
but  still  it  is  not  lost.  It  helps  to  strengthen  the 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  101 

weak  with  new  virtue,  to  arm  the  irresolute  with 
proper  energy,  to  animate  all  with  devotion  to  duty, 
which  in  the  end  conquers  all.  Fail !  Did  the  mar 
tyrs  fail  when  with  their  precious  blood  they  sowed 
the  seed  of  the  Church  ?  Did  the  discomfited  cham 
pions  of  freedom  fail,  who  have  left  those  names  in 
history  which  can  never  die  ?  Did  the  three  hundred 
Spartans  fail  when,  in  the  narrow  pass,  they  did 
not  fear  to  brave  the  innumerable  Persian  hosts, 
whose  very  arrows  darkened  the  sun  ?  No  !  Over 
borne  by  numbers,  crushed  to  earth,  they  have  left 
an  example  which  is  greater  far  than  any  victory. 
And  this  is  the  least  we  can  do.  Our  example 
shall  be  the  source  of  triumph  hereafter.  It  will 
not  be  the  first  time  in  history  that  the  hosts  of 
slavery  have  outnumbered  the  champions  of  free 
dom.  But  where  is  it  written  that  slavery  finally 
prevailed  ? 

"  Let  Massachusetts,  then,"  he  says,  —  "  nurse  of 
the  men  and  principles  which  made  our  earliest 
revolution,  —  vow  herself  anew  to  her  early  faith. 
Let  her  elevate  once  more  the  torch  which  she  first 
held  aloft.  Let  us,  if  need  be,  pluck  some  fresh 
coals  from  the  living  altars  of  France.  Let  us,  too, 
proclaim,  c  Liberty,  equality,  fraternity ! '  —  liberty 
to  the  captive,  equality  between  the  master  and  his 
slave,  fraternity  with  all  men,  the  whole  compre- 


102  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

bended  in  that  sublime  revelation  of   Christianity, 
—  the  brotherhood  of  mankind." 

By  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Mexico,  proclaimed 
July  4,  1848,  that  vast  extent  of  territory  north  of 
the  Rio  Grande,  together  with  New  Mexico  and 
California,  embracing  more  than  500,000  square 
miles,  was  relinquished  to  the  United  States ;  and 
over  these  immense  regions  the  slave  propagandists 
sought  to  extend  their  abominable  system.  The 
stake  in  the  political  game  between  them  and  the 
friends  of  freedom  was  a  virgin  territory  more  than 
four  times  as  large  as  the  British  Isles,  and  more 
than  twice  as  large  as  France  and  Switzerland. 
Shall  it  be  opened  to  free  or  servile  labor  ?  Shall 
peace  and  plenty,  or  bondage  and  poverty,  reign 
therein?  Life  or  death? — this  was  the  commanding 
question  of  the  day.  The  new  organization  saw  the 
magnitude  of  the  issue,  and  said,  "  Life  !  "  The  old 
party,  bending  to  the  arrogant  dictation  of  the 
South,  said,  "Death!"  Daniel  Webster  doubtless 
drank  his  brandy  with  his  eye  turned  toward  the 
North,  then  towards  the  South,  then  towards  the 
White  House,  and  said,  "  Death ! "  And  this  was 
his  finality ! 

Although  hard  names,  forbidding  frowns,  and 
gibe  and  jest  and  social  ostracism,  were  to  be 
accepted  by  the  men  who  dared  to  leave  the  domi- 


OF  CHARLES   STJMNER.  103 

nant  party,  Mr.  Sunnier  and  his  compeers  had  a 
grand  idea  ;  they  had  a  sentiment  of  humanity,  deep- 
seated  in  the  heart  of  the  people,  to  sustain  them : 
and  they  thus  went  boldly  forward,  turning  neither 
to  the  right  nor  left,  to  the  accomplishment  of  one  of 
the  most  transcendently  beneficent  political  under 
takings  of  these  modern  times. 

In  a  hopeful  and  well- written  oration  on  THE  LAW 
OF  HUMAN  PROGRESS,  pronounced  before  the  Phi 
Beta  Kappa  Society  of  Union  College,  Schenectady, 
on  the  25th  day  of  July,  1848,  Mr.  Sumner,  sweep 
ing  with  an  eagle  eye  over  the  various  social  systems 
of  the  past,  indicates  their  points  of  weakness,  but 
still  acknowledges  the  steady  march  of  civilization  ; 
and,  under  the  benignant  influences  of  Christianity 
and  the  printing-press,  ardently  anticipates  a  brighter 
day  for  science,  art,  literature,  freedom,  and  human 
ity.  Of  the  anomaly  of  Greek  and  Roman  civiliza 
tion,  he  thus  eloquently  discourses :  — 

"  There  are  revolutions  in  history  which  may  seem, 
on  a  superficial  view,  inconsistent  with  this  law. 
Our  attention,  from  early  childhood,  is  directed  to 
Greece  and  Rome ;  and  we  are  sometimes  taught 
that  these  two  states  reached  heights  which  subse 
quent  nations  cannot  hope  to  equal,  much  less  sur 
pass.  Let  me  not  disparage  the  triumphs  of  the 
ancient  mind.  The  eloquence,  the  poetry,  the  phil- 


104  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

osophy,  the  art,  of  Athens  still  survive,  and  bear  no 
mean  sway  upon  the  earth.  Rome,  too,  yet  lives  in 
her  jurisprudence,  which,  next  after  Christianity,  has 
exerted  a  paramount  influence  over  the  laws  of  mod 
ern  states. 

'•'  But,  exalted  as  these  productions  may  be,  it  is  im 
possible  not  to  perceive  that  something  of  their 
present  importance  is  derived  from  the  peculiar 
method  in  which  they  appeared;  something  from 
the  habit  of  unquestioning  the  high-flown  admira 
tion  with  regard  to  them,  which  has  been  transmitted 
through  successive  generations ;  and  something  also 
from  the  disposition,  still  prevalent,  blindly  to  elevate 
antiquity  at  the  expense  of  subsequent  ages.  With 
out  here  undertaking  to  decide  the  question  of  the 
supremacy  of  Greek  or  Roman  genius,  as  displayed 
in  individual  minds,  it  would  be  easy  to  show  that 
the  ancient  standard  of  civilization  never  reached 
the  heights  of  many  modern  states.  The  people 
were  ignorant,  vicious,  and  poor,  or  degraded  to 
abject  slavery,  —  slavery  itself,  the  sum  of  all  injus 
tice  and  all  vice.  And  even  the  most  illustrious 
characters,  whose  names  still  shine  from  that  distant 
night  with  stellar  brightness,  were  little  more  than 
splendid  barbarians.  Architecture,  sculpture,  paint 
ing,  and  vases  of  exquisite  perfection,  attested  their 
appreciation  of  the  beauty  of  form ;  but  they  were 


OP  CHAKLES   SUMNER.  105 

strangers  to  the  useful  arts,  as  well  as  to  the  com 
forts  and  virtues  of  home.  Abounding  in  what  to 
us  are  luxuries  of  life,  they  had  not  what  to  us  are 
its  necessaries. 

"  Without  knowledge  there  can  be  no  sure  progress. 
Vice  and  barbarism  are  the  inseparable  companions 
of  ignorance.  Nor  is  it  too  much  to  say,  that,  ex 
cept  in  rare  instances,  the  highest  virtue  is  attained 
only  through  intelligence.  And  this  is  natural ;  for, 
in  order  to  do  right,  we  must  first  understand  what 
is  right.  But  the  people  of  Greece  and  Rome,  even 
in  the  brilliant  days  of  Pericles  and  Augustus,  were 
unable  to  arrive  at  this  knowledge.  The  sublime 
teachings  of  Plato  and  Socrates  —  calculated  in  many 
respects  to  promote  the  best  interests  of  the  race  — 
were  restrained  in  their  influence  to  the  small  com 
pany  of  listeners,  or  to  the  few  who  could  obtain  a 
copy  of  the  costly  manuscript  in  which  they  were 
preserved.  Thus  the  knowledge  and  virtue  acquired 
by  individuals  failed  to  be  diffused  in  their  own  age, 
or  secured  to  posterity. 

"  But  now  at  last,  through  an  agency  all  unknown 
to  antiquity,  knowledge  of  every  kind  has  become 
general  and  permanent.  It  can  no  longer  be  con 
fined  to  a  select  circle.  It  cannot  be  crushed  by 
tyranny,  or  lost  by  neglect.  It  is  immortal  as  the 
soul  from  which  it  proceeds.  This  alone  renders  all 


106  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

relapse  into  barbarism  impossible,  while  it  affords 
unquestionable  distinction  between  ancient  and 
modern  times.  The  press,  watchful  with  more  than 
the  hundred  eyes  of  Argus,  strong  with  more  than  the 
hundred  arms  of  Briar eus,  not  only  guards  all  the 
conquests  of  civilization,  but  leads  the  way  to  future 
triumphs.  Through  its  untiring  energies,  the  medi 
tations  of  the  closet  or  the  utterances  of  the  human 
voice,  which  else  would  die  away  within  the  precincts 
of  a  narrow  room,  are  prolonged  to  the  most  dis 
tant  nations  and  times,  with  winged  words  circling 
the  globe.  We  admire  the  genius  of  Demosthenes, 
of  Sophocles,  of  Plato,  and  of  Phidias;  but  the 
printing-press  is  a  higher  gift  to  man  than  the  elo 
quence,  the  drama,  the  philosophy,  and  the  art  of 
Greece." 

The  power  even  of  the  rudest  people  to  advance  in 
civilization  under  the  law  of  progress,  and  the  aus 
picious  influences  to  this  end  conspiring,  are  well  set 
forth  in  this  hopeful  passage  :  — 

"  Look  at  the  cradles  of  the  nations  and  races 
which  have  risen  to  grandeur ;  and  learn  from  the 
barbarous  wretchedness  by  which  they  were  originally 
surrounded,  that  no  lot  can  be  removed  from  the 
influence  of  the  law  of  progress.  The  Feejee 
Islander,  the  Bushman,  the  Hottentot,  the  Congo 


OP   CHARLES   SUMNER.  107 

negro,  cannot  be  too  low  for  its  care.  No  term  of 
imagined  '  finality '  can  arrest  it.  The  polished 
Briton,  whose  civilization  we  now  admire,  is  a  de 
scendant,  perhaps,  of  one  of  those  painted  barbarians 
whose  degradation  still  lives  in  the  pages  of  Julius 
Ca3sar.  Slowly  and  by  degrees  he  has  reached  the 
position  where  he  now  stands ;  but  he  cannot  be 
stayed  here.  The  improvement  of  the  past  is  the 
earnest  of  still  further  improvement  in  the  long  ages 
of  the  future.  And  who  can  doubt,  that,  in  the 
lapse  of  time,  as  the  Christian  law  is  gradually  ful 
filled,  the  elevation  which  the  Briton  may  attain 
will  be  shared  by  all  his  fellow-men  ? 

"  The  signs  of  improvement  may  appear  at  a  spe 
cial  period,  in  a  limited  circle  only,  among  the  people, 
favored  of  God,  who  have  enjoyed  the  peculiar  bene 
fits  of  commerce  and  of  Christianity  ;  but  the  blessed 
influence  cannot  be  restrained  to  any  time,  to  any 
place,  or  to  any  people.  Every  victory  over  evil 
rebounds  to  the  benefit  of  all.  Every  discovery, 
every  humane  thought,  every  truth,  when  declared,  is 
a  conquest  of  which  the  whole  human  family  are  par 
takers.  It  extends  by  so  much  their  dominion,  while 
it  lessens  by  so  much  the  sphere  of  their  future 
struggles  and  trials.  Thus  it  is,  while  nature  is 
always  the  same,  the  power  of  man  is  ever  increas 
ing.  Each  day  gives  hina  some  new  advantage. 


108  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

The  mountains  have  not  grown  in  size ;  but  man  has 
broken  through  their  passes.  The  winds  and  waves 
are  capricious  ever,  as  when  they  first  beat  upon  the 
ancient  Silurian  rocks  ;  but  the  steamboat 

*  Against  the  wind,  against  the  tide, 
Now  steadies  on  with  upright  keel.' 

The  distance  between  two  places  upon  the  surface 
of  the  globe  is  the  same  to-day  as  when  the  con 
tinents  were  first  heaved  from  their  ocean-bed ;  but 
the  inhabitants  can  now,  by  the  art  of  man,  com 
mune  together. 

"  Much  still  remains  to  be  done  ;  but  the  Creator 
did  not  speak  in  vain  when  he  blessed  his  earliest 
children,  and  bade  them  '  to  multiply,  and  replenish 
the  earth,  and  subdue  it.9 

"  But  there  shall  be  nobler  triumphs  than  any  over 
inanimate  nature.  Man  himself  shall  be  subdued,  — 
subdued  to  abhorrence  of  vice,  of  injustice,  of  vio 
lence  ;  subdued  to  the  sweet  charities  of  life ;  sub 
dued  to  all  the  requirements  of  duty  and  religion; 
subdued,  according  to  the  law  of  human  progress, 
to  the  recognition  of  that  gospel  law  by  the  side 
of  which  the  first  is  as  the  scaffolding  upon  the 
sacred  temple,  —  the  law  of  human  brotherhood.  To 
labor  for  this  end  was  man  sent  forth  into  the  world ; 
not  in  the  listlesspiess  of  idle  perfections,  but  en- 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNEB  109 

dowed  with  infinite  capacities,  inspired  by  infinite 
desires,  and  commanded  to  strive  perpetually  after 
excellence,  amidst  the  encouragements  of  hope,  the 
promises  of  final  success,  and  the  inexpressible 
delights  which  spring  from  its  pursuit.  Thus  does 
the  law  of  human  progress 

'  Assert  eternal  Providence, 
And  justify  the  ways  of  God  to  men,' 

by   showing  evil   no   longer   as   a  gloomy  mystery, 
binding  the  world  into  everlasting  thrall,  but  as  an' 
accident,   destined,  under  the  laws   of  Qod,  to   be 
slowly  subdued  by  the  works  of  men  as  they  press 
on  to  the  promised  goal  of  happiness." 

In  Mr.  Sumner's  closing  words  on  future  progress, 
its  certainty,  and  the  means  of  making  it,  may  be 
seen  his  lofty  ideal  of  humanity,  the  leading  motive 
of  his  life,  which  was  the  liberation  of  the  captive, 
the  upraising  of  the  masses ;  and  also  his  idea  of  a 
true  reformer :  "  Be  it,  then,  our  duty  and  our  encour 
agement  to  live  and  to  labor  ever  mindful  of  the 
future  ;  but  let  us  not  forget  the  past.  All  ages  have 
lived  and  labored  for  us.  From  one  has  come  art,  from 
another  jurisprudence,  from  another  the  compass, 
from  another  the  printing-press :  from  all  have  pro 
ceeded  priceless  lessons  of  truth  and  virtue.  The 
earliest  and  most  distant  times  are  not  without  a 


110  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

present  influence  on  our  daily  lives.  The  mighty 
stream  of  progress,  though  fed  by  many  tributary 
waters  and  hidden  springs,  derives  something  of  its 
force  from  the  earlier  currents  which  leap  and 
sparkle  in  the  distant  mountain-recesses,  over  preci 
pices,  among  rapids,  and  beneath  the  shade  of  the 
primeval  forest. 

"  Nor  should  we  be  too  impatient  to  witness  the 
fulfilment  of  our  aspirations.  The  daily  increasing 
rapidity  of  discovery  and  improvement,  and  the 
daily  multiplying  efforts  of  beneficence,  in  later 
years  outstripping  the  imaginations  of  the  most  san 
guine,  furnish  well-grounded  assurance  that  the  ad 
vance  of  man  will  be  with  a  constantly  accelerating 
speed.  The  extending  intercourse  among  the  na 
tions  of  the  earth,  and  among  all  the  children  of 
the  human  family,  gives  new  promises  of  the  com 
plete  diffusion  of  truth,  penetrating  the  most  distant 
places,  chasing  away  the  darkness  of  night,  and 
exposing  the  hideous  forms  of  slavery,  of  war,  of 
wrong,  which  must  be  hated  as  soon  as  they  are 
clearly  seen.  And  yet,  while  confident  of  the 
future,  and  surrounded  by  heralds  of  certain  tri 
umph,  let  us  learn  to  moderate  our  anticipations, 
nor  imitate  those  children  of  the  crusaders,  who,  in 
their  long  journey  from  Western  Europe,  — 

1  To  seek 
In  Golgotha  Him  dead,  who  lives  in  heaven/ 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  Ill 

hailed  each  city  and  castle  which  they  approached 
as  the  Jerusalem  that  was  to  be  the  end  of  their 
wanderings.  No :  the  goal  is  distant,  and  ever 
advancing  ;  but  the  march  is  none  the  less  certain. 
As  well  attempt  to  make  the  sun  stand  still  in  his 
course,  or  to  restrain  the  sweet  influence  of  the  Ple 
iades,  as  to  arrest  the  incessant,  irresistible  move 
ment  which  is  the  appointed  destiny  of  man.- 

"  Cultivate,  then,  a  just  moderation  :  learn  to  rec 
oncile  order  with  change,  stability  with  progress. 
This  is  a  wise  conservatism :  this  is  a  wise  reform. 
Rightly  understanding  these  terms,  who  would  not 
be  a  conservative  ?  who  would  not  be  a  reformer  ?  — 
a  conservative  of  all  that  is  good,  a  reformer  of 
all  that  is  evil ;  a  conservative  of  knowledge,  a 
reformer  of  ignorance ;  a  conservative  of  truths  and 
principles,  whose  seat  is  the  bosom  of  God ;  a  re 
former  of  laws  and  institutions,  which  are  but  the 
wicked  or  imperfect  work  of  man :  a  conservative 
of  that  divine  order  which  is  found  only  in  move 
ment  ;  a  reformer  of  those  earthly  wrongs  and 
abuses  which  spring  from  a  violation  of  the  great 
law  of  human  progress.  Blending  these  two  charac 
ters  in  one,  let  us  seek  to  be  at  the  same  time 
Reforming  Conservatives,  and  Conservative  Reform 
ers:' 

Martin  Van  Buren  having  been  nominated  as  a 


112  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

presidential  candidate  by  the  Free-soil  party  at  the 
Buffalo  Convention,  a  meeting  to  ratify  the  same 
was  held  at  Faneuil  Hall  on  the  twenty-second  day 
of  August,  when  Mr.  Sumner  said,  "  It  is  no  longer 
banks  and  tariffs  which  are  to  occupy  the  foremost 
place  in  our  discussions,  and  to  give  their  tone, 
sounding  always  with  the  chink  of  dollars  and 
cents,  to  the  policy  of  the  country.  Henceforward 
PROTECTION  TO  MAN  shall  be  the  true  AMERICAN 
SYSTEM.  .  .  .  The  old  and  ill-compacted  party 
organizations  are  broken :  from  their  ruins  is  now 
formed  a  new  party,  —  The  Party  of  Freedom.  There 
are  good  men  who  longed  for  this,  and  have  died 
without  the  sight.  John  Quincy  Adams  longed  for 
it.  William  Ellery  Channing  longed  for  it.  Their 
spirits  hover  over  us,  and  urge  us  to  persevere.  Let 
us  be  true  to  the  moral  grandeur  of  our  cause. 
Have  faith  in  truth,  and  in  God  who  giveth  the  vic 
tory. 

1  Oh  1  a  fair  cause  stands  firm  and  will  abide : 
Legions  of  angels  fight  upon  its  side.' 

It  is  said  that  we  have  but  one  idea.  This  I  deny  ; 
but,  admitting  that  it  is  so,  are  we  not,  with  our  one 
idea,7  better  than  a  party  with  no  ideas  at  all  ?  And 
what  is  our  one  idea  ?  It  is  the  idea  which  com 
bined  our  fathers  on  the  heights  of  Bunker  Hill.  It 


OF   CHARLES    SUMNEK.  113 

is  the  idea  which  carried  Washington  through  a 
seven-years'  war ;  which  inspired  Lafayette ;  which 
touched  with  coals  of  fire  the  lips  of  Adams,  Otis, 
and  Patrick  Henry.  Ours  is  an  idea  which  is  at 
least  noble  and  elevating  :  it  is  an  idea  which  draws 
in  its  train  virtue,  goodness,  and  all  the  charities  of 
life,  all  that  makes  earth  a  home  of  improvement 
and  happiness. 

'  Her  path,  where'er  the  goddess  roves, 

Glory  pursues,  and  generous  shame, 

The  unconquerable  mind,  and  freedom's  holy  flame.* 

We  found  now  a  new  party.  Its  corner-stone  is 
freedom.  Its  broad,  all-sustaining  arches  are  truth, 
justice,  and  humanity.  Like  the  ancient  Roman 
Capitol,  at  once  a  temple  and  a  citadel,  it  shall  be  the 
fit  shrine  of  the  genius  of  American  institutions." 

"  He  is  radical,  an  agitator,  a  rabid  abolitionist, 
scattering  fire-brands  and  death  amongst  us,"  said 
the  old  conservatives  who  were  indirectly  storing 
their  magazines  of  merchandise  with  the  gains 
derived  from  the  unceasing  toil  of  those  in  bond 
age  :  "  he  must  be  silenced,  or  bought  up  for  our 
conciliatory  purposes."  They  mistook  their  man. 
They  set  political  power  and  money-making  above 
principle.  Mr.  Sumner  had  come  up  abreast  «rf 
the  progressive  spirit  of  the  age.  He  saw  that  a 


114        LIFE  AND   TIMES   OP   CHARLES   STJMNER. 

grand  question,  touching  the  interests  of  more  than 
three  million  human  beings  in  the  chains  of  servitude, 
was  to  be  met ;  that  it  could  be  done  on  constitutional 
grounds ;  and  while  Mr.  Garrison,  aiming  grandly 
at  the  same  result,  and  fighting  manfully  on  a  moral 
basis,  was  dealing  out  gigantic  blows  for  freedom, 
Mr.  Sumner  came  up  with  equal  vigor  to  the  politi 
cal  arena,  and  determined  to  meet  the  issue  under 
the  aegis  of  the  constitution.  Both  were  battling 
for  the  same  victory  ;  and  the  strong  blows  of  both 
alike  were  needed.  Buy  cotton,  buy  men  intent  on 
office,  the  old  regime  with  gold  could  do  :  Mr.  Sum 
ner  and  Mr.  Garrison  had  ascended  to  a  plane  above 
the  reach  of  gold. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

Mr.  Stunner's  Literary  Pursuits.  —  His  Political  Views.  — His  Re 
marks  on  Utopian  Ideas. — His  Position  defined. — Oration  before 
the  American  Peace  Society.  —  Encomium  on  Peace.  —  War  Pic 
tures.  —  A  Beautiful  Peroration.  —  The  Free-soil  Party.  —  Con 
vention  at  "Worcester.  —  Address  to  the  Citizens  of  Massachusetts. 
— Argument  in  Respect  to  Colored  Schools.  —  Equality  of  All  Men 
before  the  Law.  — Daniel  Webster's  Subserviency  to  the  South.  — 
The  Fugitive-Slave  Law.  —  Mr.  Sumner's  Effective  Speech  there 
on. —  Demands  of  the  Free-soil  Party.  —  Mr.  Sumner's  Future 
Course  indicated.  — Death  of  his  Brother  Horace  Sumner,  and  the 
Ossoli  Family. 

"  Veuillez  seulenaent,  et  les  lois  iniques  disparoitront  soudain,  et  la  violence 
des  oppresseurs  se  brisera  centre  votre  fermete"  inflexible  et  juste.  Rien  ne 
resiste  a  1'union  du  droit  et  du  devoir."  —  Livre  du  Peuple,  par  F.  LAMENNAIS. 

"  For  what  avail 

The  plough  and  sail, 
Or  land  or  life, 

If  Freedom  fail  ?  " 

B.  W.  EMEKSON. 

|R.  SUMNER  neither  had  nor  cared  to  have 
much  legal  practice  at  this  period.  His 
time  was,  for  the  most  part,  spent  either 
among  his  books  —  in  close  communion  with  the 
liberty-loving  John  Milton,  with  Nature's  darling 
child  William  Shakspeare,  with  that  glorious  Flor- 

115 


116  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

entine,  the  God-gifted  Dante,  with  the  genial, 
quick-eyed  Horace,  with  the  blind  old  Homer, 
and  other  grand  classical  authors,  from  whom  he 
drew  fresh  inspiration  for  the  conduct  of  his  life  — 
in  writing  lectures  for  literary  associations,  or  in 
the  consideration  of  the  commanding  civil  and  politi 
cal  questions  of  the  day.  Occasionally  he  pre 
pared  an  article  for  "  The  Christian  Examiner,"  or 
addressed  a  lyceum ;  but  he  had  no  desire  to  enter 
into  the  struggle  for  political  place.  His  ambi 
tion  was  to  be  an  independent  thinker,  entirely  free 
from  the  trammels  of  office,  and,  in  his  own  private 
way,  to  do  something  for  the  liberation  of  his  fellow- 
men  from  bondage.  He  was  called  a  theorizer  and 
a  visionary ;  but  his  thoughts  were  in  advance  of  his 
age ;  and  his  opinions  rested  on  the  solid  basis  of 
eternal  truth  and  equity.  He  had  reached  a  higher 
level  than  the  mercenary  politicians  of  his  time ;  and 
hence  they  could  not  understand  him.  "  Much 
learning  doth  make  thee  mad,"  said  they ;  and  so, 
alike  unmindful  of  the  ground-swell  underneath  and 
of  the  stars  above,  they  went  on  drifting  hard 
against  the  fatal  breakers. 

"  If  our  aims,"  said  Mr.  Sumner,  in  speaking  of 
his  views  on  peace,  "  are  visionary,  impracticable, 
Utopian,  then  the  unfulfilled  promises  of  the  prophe 
cies  are  vain ;  then  the  Lord's  Prayer,  in  which  we 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  117 

ask  that  God's  kingdom  shall  come  on  earth,  is  a 
mockery ;  then  Christianity  is  an  Utopia.  Let  me 
not  content  myself  by  reminding  you  that  all  the 
great  reforms  by  which  mankind  have  been  advanced 
have  encountered  similar  objections ;  that  the  aboli 
tion  of  the  punishment  of  death  for  theft  was  first 
suggested  in  the  '  Utopia  '  of  Sir  Thomas  More  ;  that 
the  efforts  to  abolish  the  crime  of  the  slave-trade 
were  opposed,  almost  in  our  day,  as  impracticable 
and  visionary :  in  short,  that  all  the  endeavors  for 
human  improvement,  for  knowledge,  for  freedom, 
for  virtue,  that  all  the  great  causes  which  dignify 
human  history,  which  save  it  from  being  a  mere 
protracted  war-bulletin,  a  common  sewer,  a  Cloaca 
Maxima,  flooded  with  perpetual  uncleanliness,  have 
been  pronounced  Utopian;  while,  in  spite  of  dis 
trust,  of  prejudice,  of  enmity,  all  these  causes  have 
gradually  found  acceptance  as  they  gradually  be 
came  understood ;  and  the  Utopias  of  one  age  have 
become  the  realities  of  the  next." 

In  a  letter  dated  Oct.  26,  1848,  in  which  he  most 
reluctantly  accepts  the  nomination  as  the  congres 
sional  candidate  of  the  Free-soil  party,  Mr.  Sumner 
says,  "  I  have  never  held  political  office  of  any 
kind ;  nor  have  I  ever  been  a  candidate  for  any  such 
office.  It  has  been  my  desire  and  determination  to 
labor  in  such  fields  of  usefulness  as  are  open  to 


118  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

every  private  citizen,  without  the  honors,  the  emolu 
ments,  or  the  constraints  of  office.  I  would  show  by 
my  example  (might  I  so  aspire !)  that  something  may 
be  done  for  the  welfare  of  our  race  without  the 
support  of  public  sanction,  or  the  accident  of  popu 
lar  favor.  In  this  course  I  hoped  to  be  allowed  to 
persevere  unto  the  end.  .  .  .  The  principles  of 
Washington,  of  Jefferson,  and  of  Franklin ;  the 
security  of  our  constitution ;  the  fair  fame  of  our 
country ;  the  interests  of  labor ;  the  cause  of  free 
dom,  of  humanity,  of  right,  of  morals,  of  religion, 
of  God,  —  all  these  are  now  at  stake.  Holier  cause 
has  never  appeared  in  history.  Let  me  offer  to  it, 
not  my  vows  only,  but  my  best  efforts,  wherever 
they  can  be  most  effectual." 

An  ardent  advocate  of  peace  and  good-will,  Mr. 
Sumner  delivered  before  the  American  Peace  Soci 
ety,  on  the  28th  of  May,  1849,  a  splendid  oration  on 
"  The  War  Systems  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
Nations."  In  this  celebrated  effort  he  displays  the 
riches  of  a  ripe  scholarship,  and  a  highly-cultivated 
imagination,  to  great  advantage.  Though  some  lack 
of  logical  method  in  arrangement,  as  in  almost  all 
his  speeches,  is  observable,  the  positions  taken  are  in 
harmony  with  the  teachings  of  Christianity,  and 
illustrated  by  a  wealth  of  learning  truly  admirable. 
His  pictures  of  the  blessings  attendant  on  peace,  as 


OF   CHAKLES   SUMNER.  119 

well  as  of  the  horrors  of  land  and  naval  warfare,  are 
drawn  with  the  skill  of  a  master.  They  are  beauti 
ful  poems  in  prose,  and  are  considered  models  in  this 
kind  of  style.  In  his  eloquent  exordium  he  thus 
refers  to  the  felicities  of  peace  :  — 

"  Peace  is  the  grand  Christian  charity,  the  foun 
tain  and  parent  of  all  other  charities.  Let  peace  be 
removed,  and  all  other  charities  shall  sicken  and  die. 
Let  peace  exert  her  gladsome  sway,  and  all  other 
charities  shall  quicken  into  celestial  life.  Peace  is  a 
distinctive  promise  and  possession  of  Christianity: 
so  much  is  this  the  case,  that,  where  peace  is  not, 
Christianity  cannot  be.  There  is  nothing  elevated 
which  is  not  exalted  by  peace.  There  is  nothing 
valuable  which  does  not  contribute  to  peace.  Of 
Wisdom  herself  it  has  been  said,  that  all  her  ways 
are  pleasantness,  and  all  her  paths  are  peace. 
Peace  has  ever  been  the  longing  and  aspiration  of 
the  noblest  souls,  whether  for  themselves  or  for  their 
country.  In  the  bitterness  of  exile,  away  from  the 
Florence  which  he  has  immortalized  by  his  divine 
poem,  pacing  the  cloisters  of  a  convent,  in  response 
to  the  inquiry  of  the  monk,  c  What  do  you  seek  ? ' 
Dante  said,  in  words  distilled  from  his  heart,  '  Peace, 
peace.'  In  the  struggles  of  civil  war  in  England, 
while  king  and  parliament  were  rending  the  land,  a 
gallant  supporter  of  the  monarchy,  renowned  for  the 


120  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

bravery  of  battle,  the  chivalrous  Falkland,  cried,  in 
words  which  consecrate  his  memory  more  than  any 
feat  of  arms,  4  Peace,  peace,  peace  ! '  Not  in  aspira 
tion  only,  but  in  benediction,  is  this  word  uttered. 
As  the  apostle  went  forth  on  his  errand,  as  the  son 
left  his  father's  roof,  the  choicest  blessing  was, 
4  Peace  be  with  you.'  As  the  Saviour  was  born, 
angels  from  heaven,  amidst  quiring  melodies,  let  fall 
that  supreme  benediction,  never  before  tasted  by  the 
heathen  tribes,  addressed-  to  all  nations,  and  to  all 
children  of  the  human  family,  c  Peace  on  earth,  and 
good- will  towards  men.'  " 

He  thus  vividly  portrays  the  atrocities  of  war 
upon  the  land :  — 

"I  need  not  dwell  now  on  the  waste  and  cruelty 
of  war.  These  stare  us  wildly  in  the  face  like 
lurid  meteor-lights,  as  we  travel  the  page  of  history. 
We  see  the  desolation  and  death  that  pursue  its 
demoniac  footsteps.  We  look  upon  sacked  towns, 
upon  ravaged  territories,  upon  violated  homes :  we 
behold  all  the  sweet  charities  of  life  changed  to 
wormwood  and  gall.  Our  soul  is  penetrated  by  the 
sharp  moan  of  mothers,  sisters,  and  daughters,  of 
fathers,  brothers,  and  sons,  who,  in  the  bitterness  of 
their  bereavement,  refuse  to  be  comforted.  Our 
eyes  rest  at  last  upon  one  of  those  fair  fields  where 
Nature  in  her  abundance  spreads  her  cloth  of  gold, 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNEE.  121 

spacious  and  apt  for  the  entertainment  of  mighty 
multitudes ;  or,  perhaps,  from  the  curious  subtlety 
of  its  position,  like  the  carpet  in  the  Arabian  tale, 
seeming  to  contract  so  as  to  be  covered  by  a  few 
only,  or  to  dilate  so  as  to  receive  an  innumerable 
host.  Here,  under  a  bright  sun,  such  as  shone  at 
Austerlitz  or  Buena  Vista,  amidst  the  peaceful  har 
monies  of  nature,  on  the  sabbath  of  peace,  we 
behold  bands  of  brothers,  children  of  a  common 
Father,  heirs  to  a  common  happiness,  struggling  to 
gether  in  the  deadly  fight  with  the  madness  of  fallen 
spirits ;  seeking  with  murderous  weapons  the  lives 
of  brothers  who -have  never  injured  them  or  their 
kindred.  The  havoc  rages.  The  ground  is  soaked 
with  their  commingling  blood :  the  air  is  rent  by 
their  commingling  cries.  Horse  and  rider  are 
stretched  together  on  the  earth.  More  revolting 
than  the  mangled  victims,  than  the  gashed  limbs, 
than  the  lifeless  trunks,  than  the  spattering  brains, 
are  the  lawless  passions  which  sweep  tempest-like 
through  the  fiendish  tumult. 


o 


'  Nearer  comes  the  storm  and  nearer,  rolling  fast  and  frightful 

on. 
Speak,  Ximena,  speak  and  tell  us,  who  has  lost  and  who  has 

won  ? ' 

'  Alas !  alas  !  I  know  not :  friend  and  foe  together  fall. 
O'er  the  dying  rush  the  living :  pray,  my  sister,  for  them  all.' 


122  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

"  Horror-struck,  we  ask,  Wherefore  this  hateful 
contest?  The  melancholy  but  truthful  answer 
comes,  that  this  is  the  established  method  of  deter 
mining  justice  between  nations." 

His  word-painting  of  warfare  on  the  sea  is  still 
more  vivid :  — 

"  The  scene  changes.  Far  away  on  the  distant 
pathway  of  the  ocean  two  ships  approach  each 
other,  with  white  canvas  broadly  spread  to  receive 
the  flying  gales.  They  are  proudly  built.  All  of 
human  art  has  been  lavished  in  their  graceful  pro 
portions  and  in  their  well-compacted  sides,  while 
they  look  in  dimensions  like  floating  happy  islands  of 
the  sea.  A  numerous  crew,  with  costly  appliances  of 
comfort,  hives  in  their  secure  shelter.  Surely  these 
two  travellers  shall  meet  in  joy  and  friendship  :  the 
flag  at  the  mast-head  shall  give  the  signal  of  fellow 
ship  ;  the  happy  sailors  shall  cluster  in  the  rigging, 
and  even  on  the  yard-arms,  to  look  each  other  in  the 
face,  while  the  exhilarating  voices  of  both  crews 
shall  mingle  in  accents  of  gladness  uncontrollable. 
It  is  not  so.  Not  as  brothers,  not  as  friends,  not  as 
wayfarers  of  the  common  ocean,  do  they  come  to 
gether,  but  as  enemies.  The  gentle  vessels  now  bris 
tle  fiercely  with  death-dealing  instruments.  On  their 
spacious  decks,  aloft  on  all  their  masts,  flashes  the 
deadly  musketry.  From  their  sides  spout  cataracts 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  123 

of  flame,  amidst  the  pealing  thunders  of  a  fatal 
artillery.  They  who  had  escaped  'the  dreadful 
touch  of  merchant-marring  rocks,'  who  had  sped 
on  their  long  and  solitary  way  unharmed  by  wind  or 
wave,  whom  the  hurricane  had  spared,  in  whose 
favor  storms  and  seas  had  intermitted  their  immiti 
gable  war,  —  now  at  last  fall  by  the  hand  of  each 
other.  The  same  spectacle  of  horror  greets  us  from 
both  ships.  On  their  decks  reddened  with  blood, 
the  murderers  of  St.  Bartholomew  and  of  the  Sicilian 
Vespers,  with  the  fires  of  Smithfield,  seem  to  break 
forth  anew,  and  to  concentrate  their  rage.  Each  has 
now  become  a  swimming  Golgotha.  At  length  these 
vessels  —  such  pageants  of  the  sea,  once  so  stately, 
so  proudly  built,  but  now  rudely  shattered  by 
cannon-balls,  with  shivered  masts  and  ragged  sails 
—  exist  only  as  unmanageable  wrecks,  weltering  on 
the  uncertain  waves  whose  temporary  lull  of  peace 
is  now  their  only  safety.  In  amazement  at  this 
strange,  unnatural  contest  away  from  country  and 
home,  where  there  is  no  country  or  home  to  de 
fend,  we  ask  again,  Wherefore  this  dismal  duel  ? 
Again  the  melancholy  but  truthful  answer  promptly 
comes,  that  this  is  the  established  method  of  deter 
mining  justice  between  nations." 

In  his  peroration  these  grand  and  hopeful  ideas  are 
most  eloquently  presented :  — 


124  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

"  Tell  me  not,  then,  of  the  homage  which  the 
world  yet  offers  to  the  military  chieftain.  Tell  me 
not  of  the  glory  of  war :  tell  me  not  of  the  honor 
or  fame  that  is  won  on  its  murderous  fields.  All  is 
vanity.  It  is  a  blood-red  phantom,  sure  to  fade 
and  disappear.  They  who  strive  after  it,  Ixion- 
like,  embrace  a  cloud.  Though  seeming  for  a  while 
to  fill  the  heavens,  cloaking  the  stars,  it  must,  like 
the  vapors  of  earth,  pass  away.  Milton  has  likened 
the  early  contests  of  the  Heptarchy  to  the  skirmishes 
of  crows  and  kites ;  but  God,  and  the  exalted  Chris 
tianity  of  the  future,  shall  regard  all  the  bloody 
feuds  of  men  in  the  same  likeness ;  and  Napoleon 
and  Alexander,  so  far  as  they  were  engaged  in 
war,  shall  seem  to  be  monster  crows  and  kites.  Thus 
shall  it  be  as  mankind  ascend  from  the  thrall  of 
brutish  passions  by  which  they  are  yet  degraded. 
Nobler  aims,  by  nobler  means,  shall  fill  the  soul ;  a 
new  standard  of  excellence  shall  prevail ;  and  honor, 
divorced  from  all  deeds  of  blood,  shall  become  the 
inseparable  attendant  of  good  works  alone.  Far  bet 
ter,  then,  shall  it  be,  even  in  the  judgment  of  this 
world,  to  have  been  a  door-keeper  in  the  house  of 
peace,  than  the  proudest  dweller  in  the  tents  of 
war. 

"  There  is  a  legend  of  the  early  Church,  that  the 
Saviour  left  his  image  miraculously  impressed  upon  a 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  125 

napkin  which  he  placed  upon  his  countenance.  The 
napkin  has  been  lost ;  and  men  now  attempt  to  por 
tray  that  countenance  from  the  heathen  models  of 
Jupiter  and  Apollo.  But  the  image  of  Christ  is  not 
lost  to  the  world.  Clearer  than  in  the  precious  nap 
kin,  clearer  than  in  the  colors  of  the  marble  of 
modern  art,  it  appears  in  every  virtuous  deed,  in 
every  act  of  self-sacrifice,  in  all  magnanimous  toil,  in 
every  recognition  of  the  brotherhood  of  mankind. 
It  shall  yet  be  supremely  manifest,  in  unimagined 
loveliness  and  serenity,  when  the  commonwealth  of 
nations,  confessing  the  true  grandeur  of  peace, 
shall  renounce  the  wickedness  of  the  war  system, 
and  shall  dedicate  to  labors  of  beneficence  all  the 
comprehensive  energies  which  have  been  so  fatally 
absorbed  in  its  support.  Then,  at  last,  shall  it  be 
seen  that  there  can  be  no  peace  that  is  not  honorable  ; 
and  there  can  be  no  war  that  is  not  dishonorable." 

Planted  on  the  solid  ground  of  opposition,  under 
and  within  the  constitution,  to  slavery  and  its  ex 
tension,  the  Free-soil  party  commended  itself  more 
and  more  to  the  profound  convictions  of  the  North 
ern  people,  and,  under  the  direction  of  such  clear 
headed  men  as  Henry  Wilson,  Stephen  C.  Phillips, 
Charles  A.  Phelps,  and  Charles  Sumner,  gradually 
acquired  position  and  commanding  influence.  At  a 
convention  of  the  party  held  at  Worcester,  Sept.  12, 


126  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

1849,  Mr.  Sumner,  calling  the  members  to  order, 
said,  — 

"  It  was  the  sentiment  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  that 
great  apostle  of  freedom,  uttered  during  the  trials 
of  the  Revolution,  that  '  Where  liberty  is,  there  is 
my  country.'  I  doubt  not  that  each  member  of  this 
convention  will  be  ready  to  respond,  in  a  similar 
strain,  '  Where  liberty  is,  there  is  my  party.' ' 

A  long  and  able  address  by  Mr.  Sumner  to  the 
citizens  of  Massachusetts  on  the  Free-soil  movement, 
was  adopted  by  this  convention,  and  widely  circu 
lated.  Contrasting  its  position  with  the  double 
dealing  of  the  Whig  party,  he  says,  "  Wherever  we 
exist,  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  East  and  West, 
North  and  South,  we  are  truly  a  NATIONAL  party. 
We  are  not  compelled  to  assume  one  face  at  the 
South,  and  another  at  the  North ;  to  blow  hot  in  one 
place,  and  blow  cold  in  another ;  to  speak  loudly  of 
freedom  in  one  region,  and  vindicate  slavery  in 
another,  — in  short,  to  present  a  combination  in  which 
the  two  extreme  wings  profess  opinions  on  the  great 
issue  before  the  country,  diametrically  opposed  to 
each  other.  We  are  the  same  everywhere ;  and  the 
reason  is,  because  our  party,  unlike  the  other 
parties,  is  bound  together  in  support  of  certain  fixed 
and  well-defined  principles.  It  is  nojfc  a  combination 
fixed  by  partisan  zeal,  and  kept  together,  as  with 


OF  CHARLES  SUMNER.  127 

mechanical  force,  by  considerations  of  political  ex 
pediency  only ;  but  a  sincere,  conscientious,  inflexible 
union  for  the  sake  of  freedom." 

Of  the  leading  question  of  the  party,  he  remarks, 
"It  is  an  everlasting  link  in  the  golden  chain  of 
human  progress.  It  is  a  cause  which,  though  long 
kept  in  check  throughout  our  country,  as  also  in 
Europe,  now  confronts  the  people  and  their  rulers, 
demanding  to  be  heard.  It  can  no  longer  be 
avoided  or  silenced.  To  every  man  in  the  land  it 
now  says,  with  clear,  penetrating  voice,  'Are  you 
for  freedom,  or  are  you  for  slavery  ?  '  And  every 
man  in.  the  land  must  answer  this  question  when  he 
votes." 

Towards  the  close  of  the  year  (Dec.  4)  Mr.  Sum- 
ner  made  a  strong  argument  before  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  State,  against  the  constitutionality  of 
separate  colored  schools,  establishing  his  positions 
both  by  the  constitution  and  the  legislation  of  the 
State,  as  well  as  by  the  decisions  of  the  bench.  In 
the  course  of  the  argument  he  said,  in  reference  to 
the  distinction  between  the  Ethiopian  and  Caucasian 
races :  "  Each  has  received  from  the  hand  of  God 
certain  characteristics  of  color  and  form.  The  two 
may  not  readily  intermingle ;  although  we  are  told 
by  Homer  that  Jupiter 

*  Did  not  disdain  to  grace 
The  feast  of  Ethiopia's  blameless  race.' 


128  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

One  may  be  uninteresting  or  offensive  to  the  other, 
precisely  as  different  individuals  of  the  same  race 
and  color  may  be  uninteresting  or  offensive  to  each 
other ;  but  this  distinction  can  furnish  no  ground 
for  any  discrimination  before  the  law. 

"  We  abjure  nobility  of  all  kinds ;  but  here  is  a 
nobility  of  the  skin.  We  abjure  all  hereditary  dis 
tinctions  ;  but  here  is  an  hereditary  distinction, 
founded  not  on  the  merit  of  the  ancestor,  but  on  his 
color.  We  abjure  all  privileges  derived  from  birth ; 
but  here  is  a  privilege  which  depends  solely  on  the 
accident,  whether  an  ancestor  is  black  or  white.  We 
abjure  all  inequality  before  the  law ;  but  here  is  an 
inequality  which  touches  not  an  individual,  but  a 
race.  We  revolt  at  the  relation  of  caste ;  but  here 
is  a  caste  which  is  established  under  a  constitution 
declaring  that  all  men  are  born  equal." 

Closing  his  earnest  plea  for  the  rights  of  the  slave, 
he  nobly  said,  "  Which  way  soever  we  turn,  we  are 
brought  back  to  one  single  proposition,  —  the  equality 
of  men  before  the  law.  This  stands  as  the  mighty 
guardian  of  the  rights  of  the  colored  children  in 
this  case.  It  is  the  constant,  ever-present,  tutelary 
genius  of  this  Commonwealth,  frowning  upon  every 
privilege  of  birth,  upon  every  distinction  of  race, 
upon  every  institution  of  caste.  You  cannot  slight 
it  or  avoid  it.  You  cannot  restrain  it.  God  grant 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNEK.  129 

that  you  may  welcome  it !  Do  this,  and  your  words 
will  be  a  '  charter  and  freehold  of  rejoicing '  to 
a  race  which,  by  much  suffering,  has  earned  a  title 
to  much  regard.  Your  judgment  will  become  a 
sacred  landmark,  not  in  jurisprudence  only,  but  in 
the  history  of  freedom,  giving  precious  encourage 
ment  to  all  the  weary  and  heavy-laden  wayfarers  in 
this  great  cause.  Massachusetts  will  then,  through 
you,  have  a  fresh  title  to  regard,  and  be  once  more, 
as  in  times  past,  an  example  to  the  whole  land." 

The  South  was  steadily  pressing  for  dominion ;  the 
Whig  party  of  the  North,  weakened  by  the  deser 
tion  from  its  ranks  of  many  of  the  advocates  of 
freedom,  step  by  step  gave  way ;  and  Daniel  Web 
ster,  led  on  by  a  hope  which  dotage  only  could  have 
entertained,  of  rising  to  the  chief  executive  chair, 
in  his  fatal  senatorial  speech  of  March  7,  1850, 
bowed  in  most  abject  submission  to  the  slaveholding 
interest.  Keenly  it  was  said  by  an  honest  farmer,  as 
this  mighty  leader  of  the  Whigs  went  down,  "  The 
masters  never  pay  their  slaves ; "  and  never,  after 
that  false  play  for  power,  could  his  words,  once  so 
grandly  eloquent,  reach  the  Northern  heart. 

By  the  death  of  President  Taylor,  July  9  of  the 
same  year,  the  executive  power  devolved  on  Millard 
Fillmore,  who  called  Mr.  Webster  from  the  Senate  to 
his  cabinet.  On  the  18th  of  September  following  Mr. 


130  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

Fillmore  signed  the  infamous  Fugitive-Slave  Bill. 
"  The  North,"  said  one,  "  will  never  submit  to  this ; 
and  we  shall  make  the  breaking-point."  The  senti 
ment  of  the  lovers  of  freedom  was  aroused ;  and  as  a 
pent-up  stream  breaks  through  the  dam  arresting  it, 
so  the  full  torrent  of  indignation  came  rolling  forth. 
In  a  speech  at  the  Free-soil  State  Convention,  held 
in  Boston  on  the  third  day  of  October,  1850,  Mr. 
Suniner  denounced,  in  words  of  scathing  power,  the 
iniquity  of  this  bill.  The  walls  of  Faneuil  Hall 
had  never  echoed  to  more  impassioned  strains  of  elo 
quence.  The  words  came  from  the  heart,  as  winged 
with  a  celestial  fire.  A  prophet  greater  than  Daniel 
had  come  to  judgment.  "  The  soul  sickens,"  ex 
claimed  Mr.  Sumner,  "  in  the  contemplation  of  this 
outrage.  In  the  dreary  annals  of  the  past  there  are 
many  acts  of  shame ;  there  are  ordinances  of  mon- 
archs,  and  laws,  which  have  become  a  by-word  and  a 
hissing  to  the  nations.  But,  when  we  consider  the 
country  and  the  age,  I  ask  fearlessly,  What  'act  of 
shame,  what  ordinance  of  monarch,  what  law,  can 
compare  in  atrocity  with  this  enactment  of  an 
American  Congress  ?  I  do  not  forget  Appius  Clau 
dius,  the  tyrant  decemvir  of  ancient  Rome,  condemn 
ing  Virginia  as  a  slave ;  nor  Louis  XIV.  of  France, 
letting  slip  the  dogs  of  religious  persecution  by  the 
revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  ;  nor  Charles  I.  of 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER. 

England,  arousing  the  patriot-rage  of  Hampden  by 
the  extortion  of  ship-money ;  nor  the  British  Parlia 
ment,  provoking  in  our  country  spirits  kindred  to 
Hampden,  by  the  tyranny  of  the  Stamp  Act  and  the 
tea-tax.  I  would  not  exaggerate ;  I  wish  to  keep 
within  bounds:  but  I  think  no  person  can  doubt 
that  the  condemnation  .now  affixed  to  all  these  trans 
actions  and  to  their  authors  must  be  the  lot  here 
after  of  the  Fugitive-Slave  Bill,  and  of  every  one, 
according  to  the  measure  of  his  influence,  who  gave  it 
his  support.  Into  the  immortal  catalogue  of  national 
crimes  this  has  now  passed,  drawing  after  it,  by  an 
inexorable  necessity,  its  authors  also,  and  chiefly 
him  who  as  president  of  the  United  States  set  his 
name  to  the  bill,  and  breathed  into  it  that  final 
breath  without  which  it  would  have  no  life.  Other 
presidents  may  be  forgotten ;  but  the  name  signed 
to  the  Fugitive-Slave  Bill  can  never  be  forgotten. 
There  are  depths  of  infamy,  as  there  are  heights  of 
fame.  I  regret  to  say  what  I  must ;  but  truth  com 
pels  me.  Better  for  him  had  he  never  been  born  I 
Better  far  for  his  memory,  and  for  the  good  name  of 
his  children,  had  he  never  been  president !  Under 
this  detestable,  Heaven-defying  bill,  not  the  slave 
only,  but  the  colored  freeman  of  the  North,  may  be 
swept  into  ruthless  captivity ;  and  there  is  no  white 
citizen,  born  among  us,  bred  in  our  schools,  partak- 


132  LIFE   AND  TIMES 

ing  in  our  affairs,  voting  in  our  elections,  whose 
liberty  is  not  assailed  also.  Without  any  discrimi 
nation  of  color,  the  bill  surrenders  all  who  may  be 
claimed  as  '  owing  service  or  labor '  to  the  same 
tyrannical  judgment.  And  mark  once  more  its 
heathenism  :  by  unrelenting  provisions  it  visits 
with  bitter  penalties  of  fine  and  imprisonment  the 
faithful  men  and  women  who  may  render  to  the 
fugitive  that  countenance,  succor,  and  shelter  which 
Christianity  expressly  requires.  Thus,  from  begin 
ning  to  end,  it  sets  at  nought  the  best  principles  of 
the  constitution,  and  the  very  laws  of  God. 

"I  will  not  dishonor  the  home  of  the  Pilgrims 
and  of  the  Revolution  by  admitting,  nay,  I  cannot 
believe,  —  that  this  bill  will  be  executed  here.  In 
dividuals  among  us,  as  elsewhere,  may  forget  hu 
manity  in  a  fancied  loyalty  to  law ;  but  the  public 
conscience  will  not  allow  a  man  who  has  trodden 
our  streets  as  a  freeman  to  be  dragged  away  as  a 
slave.  By  his  escape  from  bondage,  he  has  shown 
that  true  manhood  which  must  grapple  to  him  every 
honest  heart.  He  may  be  ignorant  and  rude,  as  he 
is  poor ;  but  he  is  of  a  true  nobility.  The  fugitive 
slaves  of  the  United  States  are  among  the  heroes  of 
our  age.  In  sacrificing  them  to  this  foul  enactment 
of  Congress,  we  should  violate  every  sentiment  of 
hospitality,  every  whispering  of  the  heart,  every 


OF  CHAELES   SUMNER.  133 

dictate  of  religion.  .  .  .  But  let  me  be  understood : 
I  counsel  no  violence.  There  is  another  power, 
stronger  than  any  individual  arm,  which  I  invoke : 
I  mean  that  invincible  public  opinion,  inspired  by 
'love  of  God  and  man,  which,  without  violence  or 
noise,  gently  as  the  operations  of  nature,  makes  and 
unmakes  laws.  Let  this  opinion  be  felt  in  its  Chris 
tian  might,  and  the  Fugitive-Slave  Bill  will  become 
everywhere  upon  our  soil  a  dead-letter.  No  lawyer 
will  aid  it  by  counsel :  no  citizen  will  become  its 
agent.  It  will  die  of  inanition,  like  a  spider  be 
neath  an  exhausted  receiver.  Oh !  it  were  well  the 
tidings  should  spread  throughout  the  land,  that  here 
in  Massachusetts  this  accursed  bill  has  found  no 
servants.  '  Sire,  I  have  found  in  Bayonne  honest 
citizens  and  brave  soldiers  only,  but  not  one  execu 
tioner,'  was  the  reply  of  the  governor  of  that  place 
to  the  royal  mandate  of  Charles  IX.  of  France, 
ordering  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew. 

uBut  it  rests  with  you,  my  fellow-citizens,  by 
your  works  and  your  words  and  your  example,  by 
your  calm  determinations  and  your  devoted  lives,  to 
do  this  work.  From  a  humane,  jiist,  and  religious 
people  shall  spring  up  a  public  opinion,  to  keep 
perpetual  guard  over  the  liberties  of  all  within  our 
borders.  Nay,  more  :  like  the  flaming  sword  of  the 
cherubim  at  the  gates  of  Paradise,  turning  on  every 


184  LIFE   AND  TIMES 

side,  it  shall  prevent  any  slave-hunter  from  ever 
setting  foot  in  this  Commonwealth.  Elsewhere  he 
may  pursue  his  human  prey,  he  may  employ  his 
congenial  blood-hounds,  and  exult  in  his  successful 
game;  but  into  Massachusetts  he  must  not  come. 
And  yet,  again  I  say,  I  counsel  no  violence.  I  would 
not  touch  his  person.  Not  with  whips  and  thongs 
would  I  scourge  him  from  the  land.  The  contempt, 
the  indignation,  the  abhorrence,  of  the  community 
shall  be  our  weapons  of  offence.  Wherever  he  moves, 
he  shall  find  no  house  to  receive  him,  no  table  spread 
to  nourish  him,  no  welcome  to  cheer  him.  The  dis 
mal  lot  of  the  Roman  exile  shall  be  his.  He  shall 
be  a  wanderer  without  roof,  fire,  or  water.  Men 
shall  point  at  him  in  the  streets,  and  on  the  high 
ways. 

'  Sleep  shall  neither  night  nor  day 

Hang  on  his  pent-house  lid ; 

He  shall  live  a  man  forbid. 
Weary  seven  nights,  nine  times  nine, 
Shall  he  dwindle,  peak,  and  pine.' 

The  villages,  towns,  and  cities  shall  refuse  to  receive 
the  monster :  they  shall  vomit  him  forth,  never  again 
to  disturb  the  repose  of  our  community.  .  .  . 

"  We  demand,  first  and  foremost,"  continued  he, 
"  the  instant  repeal  of  the  Fugitive-Slave  Law. 


OP   CHAELES   SUMNEE.  135 

"  We  demand  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia. 

"  We  demand  the  exercise  by  Congress,  in  all 
Territories,  of  the  time-honored  power  to  prohibit 
slavery. 

"  We  demand  of  Congress  to  refuse  to  receive  into 
the  Union  any  new  slave  State. 

"  We  demand  the  abolition  of  the  domestic  slave- 
trade  so  far  as  it  can  be  constitutionally  reached, 
but  particularly  on  the  high  seas  under  the  national 
flag. 

"  And,  generally,  we  demand  from  the  federal 
government  the  exercise  of  all  its  constitutional 
power  to  relieve  itself  from  the  responsibility  for 
slavery. 

"  And  yet  one  thing  further  must  be  done :  the 
slave-power  must  be  overturned,  so  that  the  federal 
government  may  be  put  openly,  actively,  and  per 
petually  on  the  side  of  freedom."  These  demands 
he  lived  to  see  fairly  and  squarely  met. 

Referring  to  his  own  future  course,  he  indicates 
that  line  of  action  which  he  undeviatingly  pursued 
until  the  close  of  life  :  — 

"  To  vindicate  freedom,  and  to  oppose  slavery,  so 
far  as  I  might  constitutionally,  with  earnestness,  and 
yet,  I  trust,  without  any  personal  unkindness  on  my 
part,  has  been  the  object  near  my  heart.  Would 


136  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

that  I  could  impress  upon  all  who  now  hear  me 
something  of  the  strength  of  my  own  conviction  of 
the  importance  of  this  work  !  Would  that  my  voice, 
leaving  this  crowded  hall  to-night,  could  traverse 
the  hills  and  valleys  of  New  England,  that  it  could 
run  along  the  rivers  and  the  lakes  of  my  country, 
lighting  in  every  humane  heart  a  beacon-flame  to 
arouse  the  slumberers  throughout  the  land !'  In  this 
cause  I  care  not  for  the  name  by  which  I  may  be 
called.  Let  it  be  4  Democrat '  or  '  Loco-foco,'  if  you 
please :  no  man  who  is  in  earnest  will  hesitate  on 
account  of  a  name.  I  shall  rejoice  in  any  associates 
from  any  quarter,  and  shall  ever  be  found  with  that 
party  which  most  truly  represents  the  principles  of 
freedom.  Others  may  become  indifferent  to  these 
principles,  bartering  them  for  political  success,  vain 
and  short-lived,  or  forgetting  the  visions  of  youth  in 
the  dreams  of  age.  Whenever  I  shall  forget  them, 
whenever  I  shall  become  indifferent  to  them,  when 
ever  I  shall  cease  to  be  constant  in  maintaining  them, 
through  good  report  and  evil  report,  in  any  future 
combinations  of  party,  —  then  may  my  tongue  cleave 
to  the  roof  of  my  mouth !  —  may  my  right  hand  for 
get  its  cunning  I " 

In  the  summer  of  this  year,  Mr.  Sumner  was 
called  to  lament  the  loss  of  his  brother  Horace,  who 
was  drowned  in  his  endeavor  to  escape  from  the 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  137 

wreck  of  the  ship  "  Elizabeth,"  which  was  driven  by 
a  violent  gale  upon  the  beach  of  Fire  Island  early  in 
the  morning  of  the  16th  of  July.  He  was  of  a  poeti 
cal  temperament,  and  had  been  residing  at  Rome 
and  Florence,  for  the  sake  of  regaining  his  health,  in 
the  family  of  the  gifted  Margaret  Fuller  d'Ossoli, 
who,  on  the  17th  of  May,  with  her  husband,  their 
child  Angelo,  and  Mr.  Sumner,  embarked  at  Leg 
horn  for  New  York.  On  the  15th  of  July  the  ship 
arrived  in  sight  of  land  on  the  Jersey  coast ;  but,  the 
wind  arising  during  the  night,  it  was  driven  past 
Rockaway,  and,  early  the  next  morning,  struck  upon 
the  sand,  and  soon  went  to  pieces  in  full  sight  of  the 
people  on  the  shore.  In  attempting  to  reach  the 
land  upon  a  plank,  Mr.  Sumner  was  lost ;  while 
the  Ossoli  family,  remaining  in  the  vessel,  shared  the 
same  melancholy  fate. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Mr.  Sumner's  Election  to  the  United-States  Senate.  —  He  makes  no 
Pledges.  — The  Turning  Vote.  —  Opinion  of  the  Press.  — Letter  to 
Mr.  Wilson.  —Letter  of  Mr.  "VVhittier. — Mr.  Sumner's  Accept 
ance  of  his  Office.  — Description  of  his  Person.  — Letters  to  Theo 
dore  Parker.  —  Entrance  to  the  Senate.  —  His  Rooms  and 
Company.  —  The  Ordeal  before  him.  —  His  Speech  on  Kossuth.  — 
On  the  Iowa  Railroad  Bill.  —Letter  to  Theodore  Parker.  —  Cheap 
Ocean  Postage.  —  A  Memorial  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  — 
Remarks  Thereon.  — Tribute  to  Robert  Rantoul,  jun. — Speech  on 
the  Fugitive-Slave  Bill.  —His  Course  denned.  —The  Freedom  of 
Speech.— Slavery  Sectional,  Freedom  National. —The  Spirit  of 
our  Literature  against  Slavery.  —  Review  of  the  Argument.  — A 
Beautiful  Peroration. 

"  Oh  great  design, 

Ye  sons  of  mercy !  Oh !  complete  your  work ; 
Wrench  from  Oppression's  hand  the  iron  rod. 
And  bid  the  cruel  feel  the  wounds  they  give. 
Man  knows  no  master  save  creating  Heaven, 
Or  those  whom  choice  and  common  good  ordains." 

Liberty,  by  JAMES  THOMSON. 

"  Hear  him,  ye  senates  I    Hear  this  truth  sublime,  — 
He  who  allows  oppression  shares  the  crime." 

Botanic  Garden,  by  ERASMUS  DARWIX. 

1Y  a  famous   coalition   of   the   Free-soil  and 
Democratic  parties,  effected  mainly  through 
the  agency  of  Henry  Wilson  in  the  legisla 
ture,  1851,  Mr.  Suinner  was  elected,  over  Robert  C. 

138 


CHARLES   SUMNER.  139 

Wiiithrop,  the  Whig  candidate,  to  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States.  The  contest,  commencing  on  the 
16th  day  of  January,  was  long  and  acrimonious.  Mr. 
Winthrop  had  much  experience  in  public  affairs,  and 
was  an  intimate  friend  of  Daniel  Webster.  Mr. 
Sumner  would  make  no  pledges :  he  had  never 
held,  nor  did  he  desire  to  hold,  any  political  office.* 
He  was  deemed  an  idealist,  and,  as  such,  unsuited 
to  the  practical  duties  of  a  senatorial  career.  It 
was,  at  any  rate,  too  long  a  step  from  his  private 
student-life  to  the  Senate-chamber  of  the  United 
States.  • 

But  the  sense  of  Massachusetts  had  been  outraged 
by  the  recreant  course  of  Mr.  Webster  ;  and  the  far- 
sighted  saw  that  the  aggressions  of  the  slave-power 
must  be  squarely  met.  Mr.  Sumner  had  shown  him 
self  an  orator  of  no  mean  order,  a  statesman  quali 
fied  to  discuss  constitutional  questions  from  the 
highest  stand-point,  and,  more  than  all,  an  invincible 
defender  of  the  colored  race.  Accordingly,  on  the 
24th  day  of  April  he  was  elected,  for  six  years  from 
the  4th  of  March  following,  as  the  successor  of  Mr. 

*  Mr.  Sumner  said  in  a  conversation  with  James  Redpath,  written  at  the 
time,  that  committee  after  committee  waited  on  him  during  the  election, 
to  get  even  verbal  promises  relative  to  tariff,  and  to  "  ease  off  on  the  slave- 
question;"  but  he  uniformly  declined  to  satisfy  them,  saying  that  the  office 
must  seek  him,  and  that  he  would  not  walk  across  the  room  to  secure  the  elec 
tion. 


140  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

Webster  to  the  senatorial  chair ;  having  had,  on  the 
twenty-fifth  and  last  ballot  in  the  House,  a  hundred 
and  ninety-three  votes,  the  exact  number  necessary 
to  a  choice.  It  is  said  that  the  turning  vote  was  cast 
by  the  late  Capt.  Israel  Haynes  of  Sudbury,  a  life 
long  Democrat,  who  voted  for  Mr.  Sumner  only  on 
the  day  of  his  election,  and  then  simply,  as  he 
affirmed,  "  on  principle,  and  because  he  believed  him 
to  be  the  better  man."  The  votes  used  at  this 
twenty-fifth  ballot  were  preserved  by  the  Hon.  Otis 
Clapp,  who,  in  April,  1873,  presented  them  to  the 
New-England  Historic-Genealogical  Society,  where 
they  now  remain. 

Although  some  thought  this  triumph  of  the  pro 
gressive  party  would  carry  with  it  serious  disaster  to 
the  Union,  "  The  Evening  Transcript "  very  sensibly 
remarked :  — 

"  We  are  not  prepared  to  proclaim  the  country 
ruined  in  consequence  of  this  event.  Mr.  Sumner  is 
a  forcible  and  eloquent  speaker,  an  apt  scholar,  a 
man  of  superior  abilities,  of  polished  address,  and  ex 
tensive  acquaintance  with  the  men  and  events  of  his 
times ;  and  he  may  become  a  statesman  of  mark  in 
the  political  arena.  He  will  probably  act  and  work 
with  the  Whig  party  on  all  questions  but  one, —  a  vital 
and  momentous  one,  it  is  true,  as  he  will  find  when 
he  gets  to  Washington.  Massachusetts  might  have 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  141 

seated  in  the  Senate  a  man  far  more  objectionable 
than  Charles  Sumner.      Vive  la  Repullique!  " 

The  world  swung  forward  by  this  victory ;  and 
unusual  demonstrations  signalized  the  joy  of  the 
triumphant  party.  On  the  next  day  Mr.  Sumner 
frankly  avowed  his  indebtedness  for  his  success  to 
Henry  Wilson. 

CRAGIE  HOUSE,  CAMBRIDGE,  April  25,  1851. 
MY  DEAR  WILSON, — I  have  this  moment  read  your  re 
marks  of  last  night,  which  I  think  peculiarly  happy.  You 
touched  the  right  chord.  I  hope  not  to  seem  cold  or  churlish 
in  thus  withdrawing  from  all  the  public  manifestations  of  tri 
umph  to  which  our  friends  are  prompted.  In  doing  so,  I  follow 
the  line  of  reserve  which  you  know  I  have  kept  to  throughout 
the  contest ;  and  my  best  judgment  at  this  moment  satisfies 
me  that  I  am  right.  You,  who  have  seen  me  familiarly  and 
daily  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  will  understand  me,  and, 
if  need  be,  can  satisfy  those  who,  taking  counsel  of  their  exul 
tation,  would  have  me  mingle  in  the  display.  But  I  shrink 
from  imposing  any  thing  more  upon  you.  To  your  ability, 
energy,  determination,  and  fidelity,  our  cause  owes  its  present 
success.  For  weal  or  woe,  you  must  take  the  responsibility 
of  having  placed  me  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  I  am 
prompted  also  to  add,  that,  while  you  have  done  all  this,  I 
have  never  heard  from  you  a  single  suggestion  of  a  selfish 
character,  looking  in  any  way  to  any  good  to  yourself  :  your 
labors  have  been  as  disinterested  as  they  have  been  effective. 
This  consideration  increases  my  personal  esteem  and  gratitude. 
I  trust  that  you  will  see  that  Mr.  B.'s  resolves  are  passed  at 


142  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

once  as  they  are,  and  the  bill  as  soon  as  possible.    Delay  will  be 

the  tactics  of  the  enemy. 

Sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 
THE  HON.  HENRY  WILSON. 

In  a  letter  to  me  dated  Amesbury,  8th  month. 
1874,  John  G.  Whittier,  in  reference  to  Mr.  Sumner's 
election,  says,  "  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  I 
was  the  first  to  suggest  to  him,  in  the  summer  of 
1850,  the  possibility  of  his  election  to  the  Senate. 
He  thought  it  impracticable,  and  stated  with  em 
phasis,  that  he  desired  no  office,  that  his  plans  of 
life  did  not  contemplate  any  thing  of  the  kind,  and 
that  he  greatly  doubted  his  natural  fitness  for  politi 
cal  life.  He  made  no  pledges  nor  explanations  of 
any  kind  to  insure  his  election  when  it  took  place. 
His  statement  in  the  exordium  of  his  speech  against 
the  Fugitive-Slave  Law  is,  to  my  knowledge,  true  to 
the  letter." 

In  his  letter  of  acceptance  Mr.  Sumner  thus 
indicates  the  broad  national  policy  which  he  in 
tended  to  pursue :  — 

"  Acknowledging  the  right  of  my  country  to  the  service  of 
her  sons  wherever  she  chooses  to  place  them,  and  with  a  heart 
full  of  gratitude  that  a  sacred  cause  has  been  permitted  to 
triumph  through  me,  I  now  accept  the  post  as  senator. 

"  I  accept  it  as  the  servant  of  Massachusetts ;  mindful  of  the 
sentiments  uttered  by  her  successive  legislatures,  of  the  genius 


OP  CHARLES   SUMNER.  143 

which  inspires  her  history,  and  of  the  men,  her  perpetual  pride 
and  ornament,  who  breathed  into  her  that  breath  of  liberty  which 
early  made  her  an  example  to  her  sister  States.  In  such  a  ser 
vice,  the  way,  though  new  to  my  footsteps,  will  be  illumined 
by  lights  which  cannot  be  missed. 

"  I  accept  it  as  a  servant  of  the  Union ;  bound  to  study  and 
maintain,  with  equal  patriotic  care,  the  interests  of  all  parts  of 
our  country ;  to  discountenance  every  effort  to  loosen  any  of 
those  ties  by  which  our  fellowship  of  States  is  held  in  fraternal 
company ;  and  to  oppose  all  sectionalism,  whether  it  appears  in 
unconstitutional  efforts  by  the  North  to  carry  so  great  a  boon 
as  freedom  into  the  slave  States,  or  in  unconstitutional  efforts 
by  the  South  (aided  by  Northern  allies)  to  carry  the  sectional 
evil  of  slavery  into  the  free  States,  or  in  whatsoever  efforts  it 
may  make  to  extend  the  sectional  domination  of  slavery  over  the 
national  government.  With  me  the  Union  is  twice  blessed : 
first,  as  the  powerful  guardian  of  the  repose  and  happiness  of 
thirty-one  sovereign  States  clasped  by  the  endearing  name  of 
1  country ; '  and  next,  as  the  model  and  beginning  of  that  all- 
embracing  federation  of  States,  by  which  unity,  peace,  and 
concord  will  finally  be  organized  among  the  nations.  Nor  do  I 
believe  it  possible,  whatever  may  be  the  delusion  of  the  hour, 
that  any  part  thereof  can  be  permanently  lost  from  its  well- 
compacted  bulk.  E  Pluribus  Unum  is  stamped  upon  the 
national  coin,  the  national  territory,  and  the  national  heart. 
Though  composed  of  many  parts  united  into  one,  the  Union 
is  separable  only  by  a  crash  which  shall  destroy  the  whole." 

His  closing  words  are  as  follows :  — 

"  Let  me  borrow,  in  conclusion,  the  language  of  another :  '  I 
see  my  duty,  — that  of  standing  up  for  the  liberties  of  my 


144  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

country ;  and,  whatever  difficulties  and  discouragements  lie  in 
my  way,  I  dare  not  shrink  from  it ;  and  I  rely  on  that  Being 
who  has  not  left  us  the  choice  of  duties,  that,  whilst  I  shall 
conscientiously  discharge  mine,  I  shall  not  finally  lose  my 
reward.'  These  are  the  words  of  Washington,  uttered  in  the 
early  darkness  of  the  American  Revolution.  The  rule  of  duty 
is  the  same  for  the  lowly  and  the  great ;  and  I  hope  it  may  not 
seem  presumptuous  in  one  so  humble  as  myself  to  adopt  his 
determination,  and  to  avow  his  confidence. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  fellow-citizens, 
"  With  sincere  regard, 

"  Your  faithful  friend  and  servant, 

"  CHARLES  SUMNERV 
"BOSTON,  May  14,  1851." 

Massachusetts  had  found  her  man.     He  had  now 
arrived  at  that  period  which  Dante  calls 

•  "  Mezzo  del  cammin  di  nostra  vita," 

and  was  in  person  tall,  dignified,  and  commanding. 
His  frame  was  solid  and  compact ;  his  features  were 
strongly  marked ;  and  his  clear,  dark  eye,  deeply  set 
beneath  his  heavy  brow  and  massive  forehead,  shone 
when  he  was  engaged  in  speaking,  with  peculiar 
brilliancy.  His  voice  was  strong  and  musical,  his 
gesticulation  unconstrained  and  graceful.  Nature 
had  set  on  him  her  imperial  seal  of  greatness,  which 
a  generous  and  untiring  culture  had  developed. 
Few  men  of  the  day  possessed  a  broader  scholarship, 


OF  CHARLES   STJMNER.  145 

and  none  a  loftier  patriotism,  or  a  profounder  sym 
pathy  for  the  sufferings  of  humanity.  In  the 
strength  and  beauty  of  manhood,  he  came  to  public 
office  as  a  splendid  representative  of  the  advanced 
ideas  of  his  time.  A  battle  was  before  him, — hail 
stones  and  coals  of  fire ;  but  well  could  he  affirm,  — 

"  What  stronger  breastplate  than  a  heart  untainted? 
Thrice  is  he  armed  who  hath  his  quarrel  just; 
And  he  but  naked,  though  locked  up  in  steel, 
Whose  conscience  with  un justice  is  corrupted." 

Though  unpractised  in  debate,  he  had  studied  his 
subject  d  profond :  his  integrity  was  unimpeachable, 
his  armor  closely  welded,  and  his  position  the  im 
pregnable  rock  of  truth.  What,  then,  had  he  to 
fear? 

The  arrest  of  Thomas  Sims  as  a  fugitive  slave,  in 
Boston,  April  3  of  this  year,  and  his  mock  trial,  with 
the  decision  of  the  court  remanding  him  to  slavery, 
threw  the  city  into  an  intense  excitement.  On 
receiving  Theodore  Parker's  Fast-Day  sermon,  which 
in  no  measured  terms  rebuked  this  outrage,  Mr. 
Sumner  addressed  to  him  the  following  letter  :  — 

COURT  STREET,  BOSTON,  April  19,  1851. 

May  you  live  a  thousand  years,  always  preaching  the 
truth  of  Fast  Day !  That  sermon  is  a  noble  effort.  It  stirred 
me  to  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  at  times  softening  me  almost  to 


146  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

tears,  and  then  again  filling  me  with  rage.  I  wish  it  could  be 
read  everywhere  throughout  the  land.  .  .  . 

I  have  had  no  confidence  from  the  beginning,  as  I  believe 
you  know,  in  our  courts.  I  was  persuaded  that  with  solemn 
form  they  would  sanction  the  great  enormity :  therefore  I  am 
not  disappointed.  My  appeal  is  to  the  people ;  and  my  hope  is 
to  create  in  Massachusetts  such  a  public  opinion  as  will  render 
the  law  a  dead-letter.  It  is  in  vain  to  expect  its  repeal  by 
Congress  till  the  slave-power  is  overthrown. 

It  is,  however,  with  a  rare  dementia  that  this  power  has 
staked  itself  on  a  position  which  is  so  offensive,  and  which 
cannot  for  any  length  of  time  be  tenable.  In  enacting  that 
law,  it  has  given  to  the  free  States  a  sphere  of  discussion  which 
they  would  otherwise  have  missed.  No  other  form  of  the 
slavery  question,  not  even  the  Wilmot  Proviso,  would  have 

afforded  equal  advantages. 

Very  truly  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 

In  another  letter  written  to  Mr.  Parker,  Mr.  Sum- 
ner  declares  his  disinclination  to  office,  and  that  his 
election  is  to  be  regarded  not  by  any  means  as  a 
reward,  but  as  a  call  to  duty  and  to  labor  for  the 
welfare  of  his  country :  — 

COURT  STREET,  July  I),  1851. 

Your  last  speech  in  "  The  Liberator"  1  have  read  with  the 
interest  and  instruction  with  which  I  read  all  that  you  say ;  but 
pardon  me  if  I  criticise  one  point. 

You  speak  of  me  as  having  "  an  early  reward  for  good  deeds." 
This  language  remainds  me  of  "  The  Atlas,"  which  did  not  see 
what  I  had  done  "  to  be  thus  rewarded." 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  147 

Now,  I  am  not  conscious  of  doing  any  thing  to  deserve 
"  reward,"  nor  am  I  conscious  of  receiving  any  "reward."  The 
office  recently  conferred  upon  me,  and  to  which  you  probably 
refer,  I  regard  as  any  thing  but  a  reward.  In  my  view,  it  is  an 
imposition  of  new  duties  and  labors,  in  a  field  \vhich  I  never 
selected,  and  to  which  I  do  not  in  the  least  incline.  .  .  . 

Ever  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMXER. 

Mr.  Sumner  entered  the  United-States  Senate  on 
Monday,  the  first  day  of  December,  1851 ;  and,  in  the 
absence  of  John  Davis,  Gen.  Lewis  Cass  rose,  and 
said,  "  I  have  been  requested  to  present  the  creden 
tials  of  Charles  Sumner,  a  senator  elect  from  the 
State  of  Massachusetts."  The  credentials  having  been 
read,  William  R.  King  of  Alabama  administered 
the  oath  of  office.  On  the  same  day  Henry  Clay, 
after  a  brief  speech,  made  his  final  retirement  from 
that  hall  in  which  his  eloquent  voice  had  so  many 
times  been  heard  in  the  defence  of  constitutional 
liberty.  In  his  own  ,  language,  used  a  few  years 
previously,  he  departed  as  "  a  wounded  stag,  pursued 
by  the  hunters  on  a  long  chase,  scarred  by  their 
spears,  and  worried  by  their  wounds,  who  had  at 
last  escaped  to  drag  his  mutilated  body  to  his  lair,  and 
lie  down  and  die."  Mr.  Sumner  occupied  the  seat 
that  had  just  been  vacated  by  Jefferson  Davis,  and 
formerly  occupied  by  John  C.  Calhoun,  and  which  was 


148  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

thus  associated  with  the  most  daring  arrogance  and 
effrontery  of  the  slaveholding  power.  His  rooms  at 
Gardner's,  on  New- York  Avenue,  were  soon  stored 
with  Looks  from  the  Congressional  Library,  and  hon 
ored  by  visits  from  Mr.  Crampton,  the  British  minis 
ter,  Don  Calderon  de  la  Barca,  minister  from  Spain, 
and  other  foreign  celebrities,  in  whose  society  he  re 
ceived  instruction  and  delight.  "I  remember,  that 
winter,"  says  an  agreeable  writer,  "  meeting  Messrs. 
Chase  and  Sumner  at  a  dinner-party  given  by  Mr. 
Crampton ;  and,  as  they  entered  the  parlor  together, 
I  was  struck  by  their  manlike  appearance,  as  I  was 
subsequently  charmed  by  their  dinner-table  chat." 

By  the  Southern  members  the  anti-slavery  agi 
tator  who  had  succeeded  Daniel  Webster  was 
viewed  with  supercilious  contempt :  he  was  placed 
at  the  foot  of  the  unimportant  committees  on  revolu 
tionary  claims  and  on  roads  and  canals  ;  and  no  one 
then  discerned  in  him  the  grand  and  fearless  leader 
of  a  slowly-rising  power  that  was  to  change  the 
political  destiny  of  the  nation,  and  establish,  over 
the  ruins  of  a  tyrannous  and  cruel  servile  system, 
the  freedom  of  the  slave  from  shore  to  shore.  Few 
now  can  fully  understand  the  ordeal  of  fire  then 
opening  before  him.  With  the  exception  of  the 
dauntless  John  P.  Hale  and  the  indomitable  Joshua 
R.  Giddmgs,  he  stood  almost  alone  in  front  of  the 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  149 

gigantic  force  combined  for  the  support  of  slavery ; 
and,  as  the  latter  said,  it  took  "  more  courage  to 
stand  up  in  one's  seat  in  Congress  and  say  the  right 
thing,  than  to  walk  up  to  the  cannon's  mouth."  This 
courage  Mr.  Sumner  had.  On  Wednesday,  Jan. 
10,  he  delivered  his  maiden  speech  on  a  resolution 
introduced  by  Senator  H.  S.  Foote,  tendering  a  wel 
come  to  the  exiled  patriot,  Gov.  Louis  Kossuth, 
during  which  he  used  the  celebrated  expression, 
"  equality  before  the  law." 

"  I  would  join  in  this  welcome,  not  merely  because 
it  is  essential  to  complete  and  crown  the  work  of  the 
last  Congress,  but  because  our  guest  deserves  it  at  our 
hands.  The  distinction  is  great,  I  know ;  but  it  is  not 
so  great  as  his  deserts.  He  deserves  it  as  the  early, 
constant,  and  incorruptible  champion  of  the  liberal 
cause  in  Hungary,  who,  yet  while  young,  with  un 
conscious  power  girded  himself  for  the  contest,  and, 
by  a  series  of  masterly  labors,  with  voice  and  pen,  in 
parliamentary  debates,  and  in  the  discussions  of  the 
press,  breathed  into  his  country  the  breath  of  life. 
He  deserves  it  by  the  great  principles  of  true  de 
mocracy  which  he  caused  to  be  recognized,  —  repre 
sentation  of  the  people  without  distinction  of  rank 
or  birth,  and  equality  before  the  law.  He  deserves  it 
by  the  trials  he  has  undergone  in  prison  and  in  ex 
ile.  He  deserves  it  by  the  precious  truth,  which  he 


150  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

now  so  eloquently  proclaims,  of  the  fraternity  of 
nations." 

The  speaker  also  beautifully  said,  "  Such  a  char 
acter,  thus  grandly  historic,  a  living  Wallace,  a 
living  Tell,  I  had  almost  said  a  living  Washington, 
deserves  our  homage.  Nor  am  I  tempted  to  ask  if 
there  be  any  precedent  for  the  resolution  now  under 
consideration.  There  is  a  time  for  all  things;  and 
the  time  has  come  for  us  to  make  precedent  in  har 
mony  with  his  unprecedented  career.  The  occasion 
is  fit :  the  hero  is  near :  let  us  speak  our  welcome. 
It  is  true,  that,  unlike  Lafayette,  he  has  never  directly 
served  our  country ;  but  I  cannot  admit  that  on  this 
account  he  is  less  worthy.  Like  Lafayette,  he  has 
done  penance  in  an  Austrian  dungeon :  like  Lafay 
ette,  he  has  served  the  cause  of  freedom ;  and  who 
soever  serves  this  cause,  wheresoever  he  may  be,  in 
whatever  land,  is  entitled,  according  to  his  works,  to 
the  gratitude  of  every  true  American  bosom,  of 
every  true  lover  of  mankind." 

For  this  eloquent  speech  Mr.  Sumner  received  the 
hearty  commendation  of  Rufus  Choate  and  other 
gentlemen.  In  his  next  speech  (on  the  Iowa  Rail 
road  Bill,  taken  up  in  the  senate  Jan.  27  and  after 
wards)  occurs  this  elegant  passage :  "  By  roads, 
religion  and  knowledge  are  diffused ;  intercourse  of 
all  kinds  is  promoted  ;  the  producer,  the  manufac- 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  151 

turer,  and  the  consumer  are  all  brought  nearer 
together ;  commerce  is  quickened  ;  markets  are 
opened ;  property,  wherever  touched  by  these  lines, 
is  changed  as  by  a  magic  rod  into  new  values ;  and 
the  great  current  of  travel,  like  that  stream  of  classic 
fable,  or  one  of  the  rivers  of  our  own  California, 
hurries  in  a  channel  of  golden  sand.  The  roads, 
together  with  the  laws,  of  ancient  Rome,  are  now 
better  remembered  than  her  victories.  The  Flamin- 
ian  and  Appiaii  Ways,  once  trod  by  returning  pro 
consuls  and  tributary  kings,  still  remain  as  beneficent 
representatives  of  her  departed  grandeur.  Under 
God,  the  road  and  the  schoolmaster  are  the  two 
chief  agents  of  human  improvement.  The  educa 
tion  begun  by  the  schoolmaster  is  expanded,  liberal 
ized,  and  completed  by  intercourse  with  the  world ; 
and  this  intercourse  finds  new  opportunities  and  in 
ducements  in  every  road  that  is  built.  .  .  .  The  true 
Golden  Age  is  before  us,  not  behind  us ;  and  one  of 
its  tokens  will  be  the  completion  of  those  long  ways, 
by  which  villages,  towns,  counties,  states,  provinces, 
nations,  are  all  to  be  associated  and  knit  together  in 
a  fellowship  that  can  never  be  broken." 

"  Read  my  speech,"  says  he  in  a  letter  to  Theodore 
Parker,  dated  Senate-Chamber,  Feb.  6,  1852,  "  on 
Lands.  The  Whig  press  is  aroused ;  but  I  challenge 


152  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

it.  I  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  my  argu 
ment  has  been  received  as  original  and  unanswerable. 
The  attack  of  '  The  Advertiser '  attests  its  impor 
tance.  I  shall  always  be  glad  to  hear  from  you,  and 
shall  value  your  counsels. 

"  Ever  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER." 

On  the  8th  of  March  he  made  a  brief  speech  on 
cheap  ocean-postage,  which  he  declared  would  be  a 
bond  of  peace  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and 
which  would  extend  peace  and  good-will  among 
men. 

On  the  •  14th  of  May  following  he  submitted  an 
able  argument,  on  the  pardoning-power,  to  President 
Fillmore ;  and  on  the  26th  of  the  same  month  he 
presented  a  memorial  from  the  Society  of  Friends 
(a  body  noted  for  their  active  sympathy  for  the  suf 
fering  of  the  colored  race)  against  the  Fugitive- 
Slave  Bill,  respecting  which  the  Southern  members 
steadily  endeavored  to  prevent  discussion.  He  suc 
ceeded,  however,  in  gaining  the  floor  to  offer  the 
following  remarks,  in  which  his  future  course  regard 
ing  slavery  was  clearly  indicated :  — 

"  I  desire  simply  to  say,  that  I  shall  deem  it  my  duty  on 
some  proper  occasion  hereafter  to  express  myself  at  length  on 
the  matter  to  which  it  relates.  Thus  far,  during  this  session,  I 


OF  CHAELES   STJMNEE.  153 

have  forborne.  With  the  exception  of  an  able  speech  from  my 
colleague  (Mr.  Davis),  the  discussion  of  this  all-absorbing- 
question  has  been  mainly  left  with  senators  from  another  quar 
ter  of  the  country,  by  whose  mutual  difference  it  has  been  com 
plicated,  and  between  whom  I  have  not  cared  to  interfere. 
But  there  is  a  time  for  all  things.  Justice,  also,  requires  that 
both  sides  should  be  heard ;  and  I  trust  not  to  expect  too  much 
when  at  some  fit  moment  I  bespeak  the  clear  and  candid 
attention  of  the  Senate,  while  I  undertake  to  set  forth  frankly 
and  fully,  and  with  entire  respect  for  this  body,  convictions 
deeply  cherished  in  my  own  State,  though  disregarded  here, 
to  which  I  am  bound  by  every  sentiment  of  the  heart,  by  every 
fibre  of  my  being,  by  all  my  devotion  to  country,  by  my  love 
of  God  and  man.  But  upon  these  I  do  not  now  enter.  Suf 
fice  it  for  the  present  to  say,  that  when  I  shall  undertake  that 
service,  I  believe  I  shall  utter  nothing  which,  in  any  just  sense 
can  be  called  sectional,  unless  the  constitution  is  sectional,  and 
unless  the  sentiments  of  the  fathers  were  sectional.  It  is  my 
happiness  to  believe,  and  my  hope  to  be  able  to  show,  that, 
according  to  the  true  spirit  of  the  constitution,  and  according 
to  the  sentiments  of  the  fathers,  FREEDOM,  and  not  slavery,  is 
NATIONAL  ;  while  SLAVERY,  and  not  freedom,  is  SECTIONAL. 
In  duty  to  the  petitioners,  and  with  the  hope  of  promoting 
their  prayer,  I  move  the  reference  of  their  petition  to  the  Com 
mittee  on  the  Judiciary." 

On  the  9th  of  August  lie  paid  a  fitting  tribute  to 
Robert  Rantoul,  jun.,  characterizing  him  as  "  a 
reformative  conservative,  and  a  conservative  re 
former." 

"  As  a  debater,"  said  Mr.  Sunnier,  "  he  rarely  met 


154  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

his  peer.  Fluent,  earnest,  rapid,  sharp,  incisive,  his 
words  came  forth  like  a  flashing  cimeter.  Few 
could  stand  against  him.  He  always  understood  his 
subject;  and  then,  clear,  logical,  and  determined, 
seeing  his  point  before  him,  pressed  forward  with 
unrelenting  power." 

To  the  complaint  of  some  of  his  supporters,  that 
he  too  long  delayed  the  discussion  of  the  mighty 
question  of  the  day,  he  replied,  that  his  time  was 
occupied  in  making  himself  acquainted  with  the 
business  coming  before  the  Senate ;  but  at  the 
proper  moment  he  should  not  fail  to  fulfil  his  duty 
as  a  representative  of  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  of 
the  nation.  That  moment  on  the  twenty-sixth  day 
of  August  came.  By  adroitly  introducing  an  amend 
ment  that  the  Fugitive-Slave  Bill  should  be  repealed, 
on  Mr.  Hunter's  amendment  to  the  Civil  and  Diplo 
matic  Appropriation  Bill,  then  under  consideration, 
he  at  length  succeeded  in  gaining  the  unwilling  ear 
of  the  Senate. 

Taking  for  his  theme,  "  Freedom  National,  and 
Slavery  Sectional,"  he  went  into  the  question  with 
gigantic  force,  unfolding  the  principles  of  liberty  as 
if  the  whole  heart  of  the  North  were  throbbing  in 
his  breast  alone,  and  nerving  his  arm  to  bring  the 
great  "  Northern  hammer  "  down  with  terrific  blows 
upon  the  iniquitous  institution  of  the  South.  He 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  155 

argued  that  slavery  and  the  Fugitive-Slave  Bill  had 
no  support  whatever  under  the  constitution,  which 
does  not  recognize  the  right  of  property  in  man ; 
that  it  was  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the  framers  of 
that  instrument,  to  the  acts  of  the  early  Congress,  to 
the  decisions  of  the  courts,  to  the  spirit  of  the 
Church,  of  the  colleges,  of  literature,  to  the  right 
of  trial  by  jury,  to  the  natural  law  of  man,  and  to 
the  progress  of  the  nation.  "  It  was,"  remarks  a 
vigorous  writer,  "  a  perfect  land-slide  of  history  and 
argument,  an  avalanche  under  which  the  opposing 
party  were  logically  buried ;  and  it  has  been  a  maga 
zine  from  which  catapults  have  been  taken  to  beat 
down  their  fortresses." 

Referring  to  himself,  in  his  exordium,  he  says,  — 

"  Sir,  I  have  never  been  a  politician.  The  slave  of  princi 
ples,  I  call  no  party  master.  By  sentiment,  education,  and  con 
viction,  a  friend  of  human  rights  in  their  utmost  expansion,  I 
have  ever  most  sincerely  embraced  the  democratic  idea ;  not, 
indeed,  as  represented  or  professed  by  any  party,  but  according 
to  its  real  significance,  as  transfigured  in  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  and  in  the  inspiration  of  Christianity.  In  this 
idea  I  saw  no  narrow  advantages  merely  for  individuals  or 
classes,  but  the  sovereignty  of  the  people,  and  the  greatest  hap 
piness  of  all  secured  by  equal  laws.  Amidst  the  vicissitudes 
of  public  aif airs,  I  trust  always  to  hold  fast  to  this  idea,  and  to 
any  political  party  which  truly  embraces  it. 

"  Party  does  not  constrain  me ;  nor  is  my  independence  les- 


156  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

sened  by  any  relations  to  the  office  which  gives  me  a  title  to  be 
heard  on  this  floor.  And  here,  sir,  I  may  speak  proudly.  By 
no  effort,  by  no  desire,  of  my  own,  I  find  myself  a  senator  of 
the  United  States.  Never  before  have  I  held  public  office  of 
any  kind.  With  the  ample  opportunities  of  private  life  I  was 
content.  No  tombstone  for  me  could  bear  a  fairer  inscription 
than  this  :  '  Here  lies  one  who,  without  the  honors  or  emolu 
ments  of  public  station,  did  something  for  his  fellow-man/ 
From  such  simple  aspirations  I  was  taken  away  by  the  free 
choice  of  my  native  Commonwealth,  and  placed  in  this,  respon 
sible  post  of  duty,  without  personal  obligation  of  any  kind 
beyond  what  was  implied  in  my  life  and  published  words. 
The  earnest  friends  by  whose  confidence  I  was  first  designated 
asked  nothing  from  me,  and,  throughout  the  long  conflict 
which  ended  in  my  election,  rejoiced  in  the  position  which  I 
most  carefully  guarded.  To  all  my  language  was  uniform, 
that  I  did  not  desire  to  be  brought  forward ;  that  I  would  do 
nothing  to  promote  the  result ;  that  I  had  no  pledges  or  prom 
ises  to  offer;  that  the  office  should  seek  me,  and  not  I  the 
office;  and  that  it  should  find  me  in  all  respects  an  independent 
man,  bound  to  no  party  and  to  no  human  being,  but  only, 
according  to  my  best  judgment,  to  act  for  the  good  of  all. 
Again,  sir,  I  speak  with  pride,  both  for  myself  and  others,  when 
I  add  that  these  avowals  found  a  sympathizing  response.  In 
this  spirit  I  have  come  here ;  and  in  this  spirit  I  shall  speak' 
to-day. 

"Rejoicing  in  my  independence,  and  claiming  nothing  from 
party  ties,  I  throw  myself  upon  the  candor  and  magnanimity 
of  the  Seriate.  I  now  ask  your  attention  ;  but  I  trust  not  to 
abuse  it.  I  may  speak  strongly  ;  for  I  shall  speak  openly,  and 
from  the  strength  of  my  convictions.  I  may  speak  warmly ; 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  157 

for  I  shall  speak  from  the  heart.  But  in  110  event  can  I  forget 
the  amenities  which  belong  to  debate,  and  which  especially 
become  this  body.  Slavery  I  must  condemn  with  my  whole 
soul ;  but  here  I  need  only  borrow  the  language  of  slaveholders 
themselves ;  nor  would  it  accord  with  my  habits  or  my  sense  of 
justice  to  exhibit  them  as  the  impersonation  of  the  institution 
(Jefferson  calls  it  the  i  enormity ')  which  they  cherish.  Of 
them  I  do  not  speak  ;  but  without  fear  and  without  favor,  as 
^without  impeachment  of  any  person,  I  assail  this  wrong. 
Again,  sir,  I  may  err ;  but  it  will  be  with  the  fathers.  I  plant 
myself  on  the  ancient  ways  of  the  Republic ;  with  its  grandest 
names,  its  surest  landmarks,  and  all  its  original  altar-fires 
about  me." 

On  the  freedom  of  speech  he  makes  this  bold  as 
sertion,  — 

"  To  sustain  slavery,  it  is  now  proposed  to  trample  on  free 
speech.  In  any  country  this  would  be  grievous ;  but  here,  where 
the  constitution  expressly  provides  against  abridging  freedom 
of  speech,  it  is  a  special  outrage.  In  vain  do  we  condemn  the 
despotisms  of  Europe,  while  we  borrow  the  rigors  with  which 
they  repress  liberty,  and  guard  their  own  uncertain  power. 
For  myself,  in  no  factious  spirit,  but  solemnly,  and  in  loyalty 
to  the  constitution,  as  a  senator  of  Massachusetts,  I  protest 
against  this  wrong.  On  slavery,  as  on  every  other  subject,  I 
claim  the  right  to  be  heard.  That  right  I  cannot,  I  will  not, 
abandon.  '  Give  me  the  liberty  to  know,  to  utter,  and  to  argue 
freely,  above  all  liberties : '  these  are  the  glowing  words  which 
flashed  from  the  soul  of  John  Milton,  in  his  struggles  with 
English  tyranny.  With  equal  fervor  they  should  be  echoed 
now  by  every  American  not  already  a  slave. 


158  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

"  But,  sir,  this  effort  is  impotent  as  tyrannical.  The  con 
victions  of  the  heart  cannot  be  repressed.  The  utterances  of 
conscience  must  be  heard.  They  break  forth  with  irrepressible 
might.  As  well  attempt  to  check  the  tides  of  ocean,  the  cur 
rents  of  the  Mississippi,  or  the  rushing  waters  of  Niagara.  The 
discussion  of  slavery  will  proceed  wherever  two  or  three  are 
gathered  together,  —  by  the  fireside,  on  the  highway,  at  the 
public  meeting,  in  the  church.  The  movement  against  slavery 
is  from  the  Everlasting  Arm.  Even  now  it  is  gathering  its 
forces,  soon  to  be  confessed  everywhere.  It  may  not  yet  be 
felt  in  the  high  places  of  office  and  power ;  but  all  who  can  put 
their  ears  humbly  to  the  ground  will  hear  and  comprehend  its 
incessant  and  advancing  tread." 

His  main  proposition  he  thus  announces,  — 

"  The  relations  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  (I 
speak  of  the  national  government)  to  slavery,  though  plain 
and  obvious,  are  constantly  misunderstood.  A  popular  belief 
at  this  moment  makes  slavery  a  national  institution,  and,  of 
course,  renders  its  support  a  national  duty.  The  extravagance 
of  this  error  can  hardly  be  surpassed.  An  institution  which 
our  fathers  most  carefully  omitted  to  name  in  the  constitution ; 
which,  according  to  the  debates  in  the  convention,  they  refused 
to  cover  with  any  'sanction;'  and  which,  at  the  original  organi 
zation  of  the  government,  was  merely  sectional,  existing -no 
where  on  the  national  territory, — is  now,  above  all  other  things. 
emblazoned  as  national.  Its  supporters  plume  themselves  as 
national.  The  old  political  parties,  while  upholding  it,  claim 
to  be  national.  A  national  Whig  is  simply  a  slavery  Whig; 
and  a  national  Democrat  is  simply  a  slavery  Democrat, — in  con 
tradistinction  to  all  who  regard  slavery  as  a  sectional  institu- 


OF   CHAELES   SUMNER.  159 

tion,  within  the  exclusive  control  of  the  States,  and  with  which 
the  nation  has  nothing  to  do.  As  slavery  assumes  to  be  na 
tional,  so,  by  an  equally  strange  perversion,  freedom  is  degraded 
to  be  sectional ;  and  all  who  uphold  it  under  the  national 
constitution  share  the  same  epithet.  The  honest  efforts  to 
secure  its  blessings  everywhere  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Con 
gress  are  scouted  as  sectional ;  and  this  cause  which  the  foun 
ders  of  our  national  government  had  so  much  at  heart  is 
called  "  sectionalism."  These  terms,  now  belonging  to  the  com 
monplaces  of  political  speech,  are  adopted  and  misapplied  by 
most  persons  without  reflection.  But  herein  is  the  power  of 
slavery.  According  to  a  curious  tradition  of  the  French  lan 
guage,  Louis  XIV.,  the  Grand  Monarch,  by  an  accidental  error 
of  speech,  among  supple  courtiers,  changed  the  gender  of  a 
noun.  But  slavery  has  done  more  than  this :  it  has  changed  word 
for  word.  It  has  taught  many  to  say  "  national  "  instead  of 
"  sectional,"  and  "  sectional  "  instead  of  "national."  Slavery 
national !  Sir,  this  is  all  a  mistake  and  absurdity,  fit  to  take  a 
place  in  some  new  collection  of  vulgar  errors  by  some  other  Sir 
Thomas  Browne,  with  the  ancient  but  exploded  stories  that 
the  toad  has  a  stone  in  its  head,  and  that  ostriches  digest  iron. 
According  to  the  true  spirit  of  the  constitution,  and  the  senti 
ments  of  the  fathers,  slavery  and  not  freedom  is  sectional, 
while  freedom  and  not  slavery  is  national.  On  this  unanswer 
able  proposition  I  take  my  stand." 

To  the  free  spirit  of  our  literature  he  makes  this 
reference :  — 

"  The  literature  of  the  land,  such  as  then  existed,  agreed 
with  the  nation,  the  church,  and  the  college.  Franklin,  in  the 
last  literary  labor  of  his  life  ;  Jefferson,  in  his  *  Notes  on  Vir- 


160  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

ginia ; '  Barlow,  in  his  measured  verse  ;  Rush,  in  a  work  which 
inspired  the  praise  of  Clarkson  ;  the  ingenious  author  of  «  The 
Algerine  Captive '  (the  earliest  American  novel,  and,  though 
now  but  little  known,  one  of  the  earliest  American  books 
republished  in  London),  were  all  moved  by  the  contemplation 
of  slavery.  '  If  our  fellow-citizens  of  the  Southern  States  are 
deaf  to  the  pleadings  of  nature,'  the  latter  exclaims  in  his 
work,  'I  will  conjure  them,  for  the  sake  of  consistency,  to  cease 
to  deprive  their  fellow-creatures  of  freedom,  which  their 
writers,  their  orators,  representatives,  and  senators,  and  even 
their  constitution  of  government,  have  declared  to  be  the 
inalienable  birthright  of  man.'  " 

In  an  admirable  review  of  the  course  of  argu 
ment,  he  says,  — 

"  And  now,  sir,  let  us  review  the  field  over  which  we  have 
passed.  We  have  seen  that  any  compromise,  finally  closing 
the  discussion  of  slavery  under  the  constitution,  is  tyrannical, 
absurd,  and  impotent ;  that,  as  slavery  can  exist  only  by  virtue 
of  positive  law,  and  as  it  has  no  such  positive  support  in  the  con 
stitution,  it  cannot  exist  within  the  national  jurisdiction;  that 
the  constitution  nowhere  recognizes  property  in  man  ;  and  that, 
according  to  its  true  interpretation,  freedom  and  not  slavery  is 
national,  while  slavery  and  not  freedom  is  sectional ;  that  in 
this  spirit  the  national  government  was  first  organized  under 
Washington,  himself  an  abolitionist,  surrounded  by  aboli 
tionists,  while  the  whole  country,  by  its  church,  its  colleges,  its 
literature,  and  all  its  best  voices,  was  united  against  slavery, 
and  the  national  flag  at  that  time  nowhere  within  the  national 
territory  covered  a  single  slave;  still  further,  that  the  national 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  1G1 

government  is  a  government  of  delegated  powers ;  and,  as 
among  these  there  is  no  power  to  support  slavery,  this  institu 
tion  cannot  be  national,  nor  can  Congress  in  any  way  legislate 
in  its  behalf  ;  and,  finally,  that  the  establishment  of  this  prin 
ciple  is  the  true  way  of  peace  and  safety  for  the  republic. 
Considering  next  the  provision  for  the  surrender  of  fugitives 
from  labor,  we  have  seen  that  it  was  not  one  of  the  original 
compromises  of  the  constitution ;  that  it  was  introduced  tar 
dily  and  with  hesitation,  and  adopted  with  little  discussion, 
and  then  and  for  a  long  period  after  was  regarded  with  com 
parative  indifference ;  that  the  recent  Slave  Act,  though  many 
times  unconstitutional,  is  especially  so  on  two  grounds,  — first 
as  a  usurpation  by  Congress  of  powers  not  granted  by  the  con 
stitution,  and  an  infraction  of  rights  secured  to  the  States ; 
and  secondly  as  a  denial  of  trial  by  jury  in  a  question  of  per 
sonal  liberty  and  a  suit  at  common  law ;  that  its  glaring  uncon 
stitutionally  finds  a  prototype  in  the  British  Stamp  Act,  which 
our  fathers  refused  to  obey  as  unconstitutional  on  two  parallel 
grounds,  — first  because  it  was  a  usurpation  by  parliament  of 
powers  not  belonging  to  it  under  the  British  constitution,  and 
an  infraction  of  rights  belonging  to  the  colonies ;  and  secondly 
because  it  was  a  denial  of  trial  by  jury  in  certain  cases  of 
property ;  that,  as  liberty  is  far  above  property,  so  is  the  out 
rage  perpetrated  by  the  American  Congress  far  above  that  per 
petrated  by  the  British  Parliament;  and,  finally,  that  the 
Slave  Act  has  not  that  support  in  the  public  sentiment  of  the 
States  where  it  is  to  be  executed,  which  is  the  life  of  all  law, 
and  which  prudence  and  the  precept  of  Washington  require." 

He  closes  his  great  speech  by  this  effective  perora 
tion  :  — 


162  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

"  Finally,  sir,  for  the  sake  of  peace  and  tranquillity,  cease  to 
shock  the  public  conscience ;  for  the  sake  of  the  constitution, 
cease  to  exercise  a  power  which  is  nowhere  granted,  and  which 
violates  inviolable  rights  expressly  secured.  Leave  this  ques 
tion  where  it  was  left  by  our  fathers  at  the  formation  of  our 
national  government,  —  in  the  absolute  control  of  the  States,  the 
appointed  guardians  of  personal  liberty.  Repeal  this  enact 
ment.  Let  its  terrors  no  longer  rage  through  the  land.  Mind 
ful  of  the  lowly  whom  it  pursues,  mindful  of  the  good  men 
perplexed  by  its  requirements,  in  the  name  of  charity,  in  the 
name  of  the  constitution,  repeal  this  enactment  totally  and 
without  delay.  Be  inspired  by  the  example  of  Washington. 
Be  admonished  by  those  words  of  Oriental  piety  —  '  Beware  of 
the  groans  of  the  wounded  souls.  Oppress  not  to  the  utmost  a 
single  heart ;  for  a  solitary  sigh  has  power  to  overset  a  whole 
world.' " 

In  reply  to  a  letter  from  Dr.  Horatio  Stebbins 
thanking  him  for  this  speech,  Mr.  Sumner  thus  wrote 
from  Newport,  K.I.,  Oct.  12,  1852:  — 

MY  DEAR  SIR,  —  I  cannot  receive  the  overflowing  sym 
pathy  of  your  letter  without  response.  ...  I  went  to  the  Sen 
ate  determined  to  do  my  duty,  but  in  my  own  way.  Anxious 
for  the  cause,  having  it  always  in  mind,  I  knew  that  I  could  not 
fail  in  loyalty,  though  I  might  err  in  judgment.  All  my  in 
stincts  prompted  delay.  But  meanwhile  I  was  taunted  and 
attacked  at  home.  Had  I  been  less  conscious  of  the  rectitude 
of  my  course,  I  might  have  sunk  under  these  words ;  but  I  per 
severed  in  my  own  way. 

As  I  delivered  the  part  to  which  you  refer,  I  remember  well 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  163 

the  intent  looks  of  the  Senate,  and  particularly  of  Mr.  King 
[president  pro  tern  of  the  senate].  It  was  already  dinner-time, 
but  all  were  silent  and  attentive ;  and  Hale  [John  P.  Hale,  of 
N.IL]  tells  me  that  Mr.  Underwood  of  Kentucky,  by  his  side, 
was  in  tears. 

From  many  leading  Southern  men  I  have  received  the 
strongest  expressions  of  interest  awakened  in  our  cause,  and  a 
confession  that  they  did  not  know  before  the  strength  of  the 
argument  on  our  side.  Polk  of  Tennessee  said  to  me,  "If  you 
should  make  that  speech  in  Tennessee  you  would  compel  me  to 
emancipate  my  niggers."  But  enough  of  this.  I  have  been 
tempted  to  it  by  the  generosity  of  your  letter. 
Thankfully  and  truly  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Mr.  Simmer's  Tribute  to  Mr.  Downing. —His  Speech  at  Lowell.— 
His  Speech  respecting  Armories.  — Mr.  Sumner  as  a  Corre 
spondent—His  Letters.  —The  Pacific  Railroad.  —Secret  Sessions 
of  the  Senate.  —  His  Election  to  Massachusetts  Constitutional 
Convention,  1853.  —  His  Speech  on  Military  Affairs. —On  the 
Basis  of  Representation.  —  On  the  Bill  of  Eights.  — "A  Finger 
Point  from  Plymouth  Rock."  —Reply  to  Mr.  Douglas.  —  A  Day 
of  Trial.  —  "  Landmark  of  Freedom."  —  Importance  of  the  Ques 
tion  at  Issue.  —Iniquity  of  the  Slave  System.  —  Plea  for  the  Mis 
souri  Compromise.  —  The  Future  of  the  Anti-Slavery  Cause.  — 
Commendatory  Letters.  —  Speech  on  the  Final  Passage  of  the 
Kansas  and  Nebraska  Bill.  —  Defence  of  the  Clergy.  —  Excite 
ment  in  Boston. —Mr.  Sumner's  Life  in  Peril.— His  Fearless 
ness.  —  Prediction  of  George  Livermore. 

"  Still  groan  the  suffering  millions  in  their  chains; 
Still  is  the  arm  of  the  oppressor  strong; 
Still  Liberty  doth  bleed  at  all  her  veins ; 
And  few  are  they  who  side  not  with  the  wrong : 
Consider,  then,  your  work  as  just  begun, 
Until  the  last  decisive  act  be  done." 

WILLIAM  LLOYD  GARRISON. 

"  If  any  man  thinks  that  the  interest  of  these  nations  and  the  interest  of 
Christianity  are  two  separate  and  distinct  things,  I  wish  my  soul  may  never 
enter  into  his  secret."  —OLIVER  CROMWELL. 

|R.    SUMNER    steadily    availed    himself    of 
every  opportunity  to  alleviate  human  suffer 
ing,  and  to  promote  the  cause  of  freedom. 
As  the  needle  to  the  pole,  his  eye  turned  to  the  tear 

164 


CHARLES    STJMNER.  165 

of  sorrow.  On  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  August,  1852, 
he  made  a  touching  appeal  in  the  Senate  on  behalf  of 
the  widow  of  the  accomplished  landscape-gardener 
Andrew  Jackson  Downing,  who  was  lost  in  his  noble 
efforts  to  save  the  passengers  of  the  ill-fated  steamer 
"  Henry  Clay,"  burned  on  the  Hudson  River  on  the 
twenty-eighth  day  of  the  month  preceding.  He  closed 
his  remarks  by  this  just  tribute  to  the  memory  of  the 
lamented  artist :  "  Few  men  in  the  public  service 
have  vindicated  a  title  to  regard  above  Mr.  Downing. 
At  the  age  of  thirty-seven  he  has  passed  away,  c  dead 
ere  his  prime,'  like  Lycidas,  also,  'stretched  on  a 
watery  bier,'  leaving  behind  a  reputation  above  that 
of  any  other  citizen  in  the  beautiful  department  of 
art  to  which  he  was  devoted.  His  labors  and  his 
example  cannot  be  forgotten.  I  know  of  no  man 
among  us,  in  any  sphere  of  life,  so  young  as  he  was 
at  his  death,  who  has  been  able  to  perform  services 
of  such  true,  simple,  and  lasting  beneficence.  By 
his  wide  and  active  superintendence  of  rural  im 
provements,  by  his  labors  of  the  pen,  and  by  the 
various  exercise  of  his  genius,  he  has  contributed 
essentially  to  the  sum  of  human  happiness.  And 
now,  sir,  by  practical  services  here  in  Washington, 
rendered  at  the  call  of  his  country,  he  has  earned, 
it  seems  to  me,  this  small  appropriation,  not  as  a 
charity  to  this  desolate  widow,  but  as  a  compensation 


166  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

for  labor  done.  I  hope  the  amendment  will  be 
agreed  to." 

At  the  State  Convention  of  the  Free-soil  party 
held  in  Lowell  on  the  15th  of  September  following, 
Mr.  Simmer  was  received  with  demonstrations  of  the 
heartiest  enthusiasm,  and  delivered  a  thrilling  speech 
on  the  necessity  and  practicability  of  that  organiza 
tion.  Capt.  Drayton,  the  "  hero  of  4  The  Pearl,'  " 
who,  through  the  exertions  of  Mr.  Sumner,  had  just 
been  liberated  from  his  long  imprisonment,  sat  upon 
the  platform.  In  the  course  of  his  remarks,  the 
senator  said,  amidst  tremendous  cheering,  — 

"  The  rising  public  opinion  against  slavery  cannot 
now  flow  in  the  old  political  channels.  It  is  stran 
gled,  clogged,  and  dammed  back.  But,  if  not  through 
the  old  parties,  then  over  the  old  parties,  this  irresist 
ible  current  shall  find  its  way.  It  cannot  be  perma 
nently  stopped.  If  the  old  parties  will  not  become 
its  organ,  they  must  become  its  victim.  The  party 
of  freedom  will  certainly  prevail.  It  may  be  by 
entering  into  and  possessing  one  of  the  old  parties, 
filling  it  with  our  strong  life ;  or  it  may  be  by  draw 
ing  from  both  to  itself  the  good  and  true,  who  are 
unwilling  to  continue  members  of  any  political  com 
bination  when  ifc  ceases  to  represent  their  convic 
tions.  But  in  one  way  or  the  other,  its  ultimate  tri 
umph  is  sure  :  of  this  let  no  man  doubt." 


OF    CHARLES    SUMNER.  167 

Closing,  he  used  these  hopeful  and  prophetic 
words :  — 

"With  such  a  cause  and  such  candidates,  let  no 
man  be  disheartened.  The  tempest  may  blow  ;  but 
ours  is  a  life-boat,  which  cannot  be  harmed  by  wind 
or  wave.  The  genius  of  Liberty  sits  at  the  helm.  I 
hear  her  voice  of  cheer  saying,  4  Whoso  sails  with 
me  comes  to  shore.' ' 

He  sat  down  amidst  prolonged  shouts  of  applause  ; 
and  the  people  of  this  industrial  city  still  speak  with 
admiration  of  the  splendor  of  his  eloquence  on  that 
occasion. 

In  a  brief  speech  in  the  Senate  Feb.  28,  1853, 
in  favor  of  appointing  civil  instead  of  military 
superintendence  of  our  armories,  he  closed,  con 
trary  to  his  usual  custom,  with  a  humorous  quota 
tion  which  gave  much  point  to  his  fine  argument. 

"  The  manufacture  of  arms,"  said  he,  "  is  a  mechan 
ical  pursuit ;  and  for  myself,  I  can  see  no  reason  why 
it  should  not  be  placed  in  charge  of  one  bred  to  the 
business.  Among  the  intelligent  mechanics  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  there  are  many  fully  fit  to  be  at  the  head 
of  the  arsenal  at  Springfield ;  but  all  these  by  the 
existing  law  are  austerely  excluded  from  any 
such  trust.  The  idea  which  has  fallen  from  so  many 
senators,  that  the  superintendent  of  an  armory  ought 
to  be  a  military  man,  that  a  military  man  only  is 


168  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

competent,  or  even  that  a  military  man  is  more 
competent  than  a  civilian,  seems  to  me  as  illogical  as 
the  jocular  fallacy  of  Dr.  Johnson,  that  '  He  who 
drives  fat  oxen  must  himself  be  fat.' ' 

Mr.  Sunnier  was  an  admirable  correspondent.  He 
wrote  his  letters  with  rapidity,  ease,  and  elegance. 
Sometimes  he  received  as  many  as  fifty  communica 
tions  in  a  day ;  and  his  replies,  however  brief,  inva 
riably  contain  some  strong  and  elevating  sentiment ; 
as,  for  example,  in  a  short  letter  to  a  Rhode-Island 
committee,  dated  March  26,  1853,  he  says,  — 

"  It  becomes  all  good  citizens  to  unite  in  uphold 
ing  freedom ;  nor  should  any  one  believe  that  his 
single  vote  may  not  exert  an  influence  in  the  strug 
gle."  So,  again,  in  a  letter  to  Lewis  Tappan,  dated 
Boston,  May  17,  1853,  encouraging  the  establish 
ment  of  a  German  newspaper  at  Washington,  he 
writes,  — 

"  The  German  emigrant  who  is  not  against  slavery 
here  leads  us  to  doubt  the  sincerity  of  his  opposition 
to  the  tyranny  he  has  left  behind  in  his  native  land." 
Also  in  a  letter  to  the  mayor  of  Boston,  dated  Bos 
ton,  July  1,  1853,  he  presents  this  sentiment  in  re 
spect  to  the  Pacific  Railroad,  — 

"  Traversing  a  whole  continent,  and  binding 
together  two  oceans,  this  mighty  thoroughfare, 
when  completed,  will  mark  an  epoch  of  human  prog- 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNEK.  169 

ress  second  only  to  that  of  our  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence.  May  the  day  soon  come  !  " 

His  view  of  the  secrecy  of  proceedings  of  the 
Senate  may  be  seen  from  the  following  extract  from 
his  speech  in  the  debate  on  that  question,  April  6, 
1853:  "The  general  rule  will  be  publicity.  The 
executive  sessions  with  closed  doors,  shrouded  from 
the  public  gaze  and  from  public  criticism,  constitute 
an  exceptional  part  of  our  system,  too  much  in  har 
mony  with  the  proceedings  of  other  governments  less 
liberal  in  character.  The  genius  of  our  institutions 
requires  publicity.  The  ancient  Roman  who  bade 
his  architect  so  to  construct  his  house  that  his  guests 
and  all  that  he  did  could  be  seen  by  the  world  is  a 
fit  model  for  the  American  people." 

Mr.  Sumner  was  elected  by  the  town  of  Marsh- 
field  to  the  convention  for  the  revision  of  the  con 
stitution  of  the  State,  which  assembled  in  the  State 
House,  Boston,  on  the  fourth  day  of  May,  1853.  In 
this  body,  embracing  many  of  the  ablest  men  of  the 
State,  he  took  an  active  part,  and  made  several 
speeches  evincing  a  profound  knowledge  of  constitu 
tional  law,  as  well  as*  of  our  political  history.  In  the 
debate  on  the  powers  of  the  State  over  the  militia, 
on  the  21st  and  22d  of  June,  he  said,  in  opposition 
to  conservative  opinions,  — 

"  Massachusetts  may  proudly  declare,  that,  in  her 


170  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

own  volunteer  military  companies,  marshalled  under 
her  own  local  laws,  there  shall  be  no  distinction  of 
color  or  race." 

In  his  speech,  July  7,  on  the  basis  of  the  represen 
tative  system,  he  ably  advocated  that  arrangement 
which  has  since  been  adopted.  "  I  cannot  doubt," 
said  he,  "  that  the  district-system,  as  it  is  generally 
called,  whereby  the  representative  power  will  be 
distributed  in  just  proportion,  according  to  the  Rule 
of  Three,  among  the  voters  of  the  Commonwealth, 
is  the  true  system,  destined  at  no  distant  day  to  pre 
vail  ;  and  gladly  would  I  see  this  convention  hasten 
the  day  by  presenting  it  to  the  people  for  adoption 
in  the  organic  law." 

As  chairman  of  the  committee  on  the  Bill  of 
Rights,  he  addressed  the  convention  on  the  25th  of 
July,  and  presented  a  very  lucid  exposition  of  the 
origin  and  nature  of  these  instruments,  which  he 
thus  concludes :  — 

"  The  preamble,  wherein  the  body  politic  is 
founded  on  the  fiction  of  the  social  compact,  was 
doubtless  inspired  by  the  writings  of  Sidney  and 
Locke,  and  by  the  English  discussions  at  the  period 
of  the  revolution  of  1688,  when  this  questionable 
theory  did  good  service  in  response  to  the  assump 
tions  of  Filmer,  and  as  a  shield  against  arbitrary 
power.  Of  the  different  provisions  in  the  Bill  of 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  171 

Rights,  some  are  in  the  very  words  of  Magna  Charta  : 
others  are  derived  from  the  ancient  common  law, 
the  Petition  of  Right,  arid  the  Bill  of  Rights  of  1688, 
while  no  less  than  sixteen  may  be  found  substantially 
in  the  Virginia  Bill  of  Rights ;  but  these  again  are 
in  great  part  derived  from  earlier  fountains. 

"  And  now,  sir,  you  have  before  you  for  revision 
and  amendment,  this  early  work  of  our  fathers.  I  do 
not  stop  to  consider  its  peculiar  merits.  With  satis 
faction  I  might  point  to  special  safeguards  by  which 
our  rights  have  been  protected  against  usurpations, 
whether  executive,  legislative,  or  judicial.  With 
pride  I  might  dwell  011  those  words  which  banished 
slavery  from  our  soil,  and  rendered  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  here  with  us  a  living  letter.  But 
the  hour  does  not  require  or  admit  any  such  service. 
You  have  a  practical  duty  which  I  seek  to  promote ; 
and  I  now  take  leave  of  the  whole  subject,  with  the 
simple  remark,  that  a  document  proceeding  from 
such  a  pen,  drawn  from  such  sources,  with  such  an 
origin  in  all  respects,  speaking  so  early  for  human 
rights,  and  now  for  more  than  threescore  years  and 
ten  a  household  word  to  the  people  of  Massachu 
setts,  should  be  touched  by  the  convention  only  with 
extreme  care." 

An  ardent  admirer  of  the  stern  virtues,  and  of 
the  heroism,  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  Mr.  Sumner 


172  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

always  referred  to  them  with,  pleasure,  as  the  grand 
leaders  in  the  cause  of  civil  and  political  freedom. 
In  a  speech  at  the  festival  held  in  Plymouth  on  the 
1st  of  August,  1853,  commemorating  the  embarka 
tion  of  the  fathers,  he  most  eloquently  eulogizes 
these  invincible  defenders  of  "a  cherished  princi 
ple  "  and  "  a  lofty  faith."  In  reference  to  its  covert 
bearing  on  the  prominent  question  of  the  day  (for  he 
could  not  then  speak  openly),  he  entitled  this  address 
a  "  Finger-point  from  Plymouth  Rock."  He  con 
cluded  it  in  this  eloquent  and  suggestive  strain :  — 

"  These  outcasts,  despised  in  their  own  day  by 
the  proud  and  great,  are  the  men  whom  we  have 
met  in  this  goodly  number  to  celebrate  ;  not  for  any 
victory  of  war,  not  for  any  triumph  of  discovery, 
science,  learning,  or  eloquence ;  not  for  worldly 
success  of  any  kind.  How  poor  are  all  these  things 
by  the  side  of  that  divine  virtue  which  made  them, 
amidst  the  reproach,  the  obloquy,  and  the  hardness 
of  the  world,  hold  fast  to  freedom  and  truth  !  Sir,  if 
the  honors  of  this  day  are  not  a  mockery ;  if  they 
do  not  expend  themselves  in  selfish  gratulation ;  if 
they  are  a  sincere  homage  to  the  character  of  the 
Pilgrims  (and  I  cannot  suppose  otherwise),  then 
is  it  well  for  us  to  be  here.  Standing  on  Plymouth 
Rock,  at  their  great  anniversary,  we  cannot  fail  to 
be  elevated  by  their  example.  We  see  clearly 


OF   CHARLES    SUMNER.  173 

what  it  has  done  for  the  world,  and  what  it  has 
done  for  their  fame.  No  pusillanimous  soul  here 
to-day  will  declare  their  self-sacrifice,  their  de 
viation  from  received  opinions,  their  unquencha 
ble  thirst  for  liberty,  an  error  or  illusion.  From 
gushing  multitudinous  hearts  we  now  thank  these 
lowly  men  that  they  dared  to  be  true  and  brave. 
Conformity  or  compromise  might,  perhaps,  have  pur 
chased  for  them  a  profitable  peace,  but  not  peace  of 
mind :  it  might  have  secured  place  and  power,  but 
not  repose :  it  might  have  opened  a  present  shelter, 
but  not  a  home  in  history  and  in  men's  hearts  till 
time  shall  be  no  more.  All  will  confess  the  true 
grandeur  of  their  example,  while,  in  vindication  of 
a  cherished  principle,  they  stood  alone,  against  the 
madness  of  men,  against  the  law  of  the  land,  against 
their  king.  Better  be  the  despised  pilgrim,  a  fugi 
tive  for  freedom,  than  the  halting  politician  forgetful 
of  principle,  '  with  a  senate  at  his  heels.' 

"  Such,  sir,  is  the  voice  from  Plymouth  Rock,  as  it 
salutes  my  ears.  Others  may  not  hear  it;  but  to 
me  it  comes  in  tones  I  cannot  mistake.  I  catch  its 
noble  words  of  cheer, — 

'  New  occasions  teach  new  duties :  time  makes  ancient  good 

uncouth : 
They  must  upward  still  and  onward,  who  would  keep  abreast 

of  Truth. 


174  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

Lo !  before  us  gleam  her  camp-fires :  we  ourselves  must  pil 
grims  be, 

Launch  our  "  Mayflower,"  and  steer  boldly  through  the  desperate 
winter  sea.'  " 

But  a  battle  was  impending.  Encouraged  by  the 
timid  servility  of  the  Northern  Congressmen,  the 
advocates  of  slavery  brought  forward,  in  the  famous 
Nebraska  and  Kansas  Bill,  the  iniquitous  scheme  of 
abrogating  the  Missouri  Compromise  of  1820,  pro 
hibiting  slavery,  that  State  alone  excepted,  from  all 
the  territory  ceded  by  France  to  the  United  States, 
lying  north  of  36°  30'  north  latitude.  After  various 
modifications,  the  bill  came  before  the  Senate  on  the 
30th  of  January,  1854,  when  Stephen  A.  Douglas 
made  a  violent  attack  on  Mr.  Chase ''of  Ohio,*  and 
Mr.  Sumner,  for  having  signed  a  document,  entitled 
"  Shall  Slavery  be  permitted  in  Nebraska?"  and 
appealing  to  the  people  to  withstand  the  aggressions 
of  the  propagandists  of  the  servile  institution.  Mr. 
Sumner  replied  to  Mr.  Douglas,  characterizing  the 
measure  before  the  Senate  as  "  not  only  subversive 
of  an  ancient  landmark,  but  hostile  to  the  peace,  the 
harmony,  and  the  best  interests  of  the  country." 
The  debate  went  on,  bringing  front  to  front  the  stern 
contestants,  and  assuming  daily  greater  vehemence, 
jverett  and  other  New-England  senators,  John 
tie  excepted,  had  yielded  to  the  administra- 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNEB.  175 

tion,  favoring  the  abrogation  of  the  Missouri  Com 
promise,  and  to  the  plan  of  what  was  termed  the 
"squatter  sovereignty"  of  Mr.  Douglas.  Before 
the  confederated  host,  two  or  three  senators  only 
stood  up  fearless  and  unterrified  for  the  defence  of 
freedom.  This  was  a  day  that  tried  men's  souls  ;  and 
seldom  has  a  public  body  witnessed  a  scene  of  more 
sublimity  than  when  Charles  Sumner  rose,  almost 
single-handed  and  alone,  on  the  twenty-first  day  of 
February,  to  pronounce,  in  front  of  a  solid  mass  of 
frowning  and  malignant  senators,  his  masterly  de 
fence  of  human  right.  Undaunted  by  the  fearful 
odds  against  him,  or  by  the  menace  of  assassination, 
he,  like  an  old  hero  of  Thermopylae,  sent  home 
blow  after  blow  into  the  dark  columns  bearing  down 
upon  him,  and  set  up  on  that  day  a  "  landmark  of 
freedom  "  that  will  serve  to  guide  the  coming  gen 
erations.  J[n  clear,  concise,  and  trenchant  diction  he 
depicted  the  wrongs  of  slavery,  and  with  most  per 
suasive  tongue  plead  for  the  salvation  to  freedom  of 
a  range  of  virgin  soil,  of  vast  extent  and  of  un 
surpassed  fertility.  Never  had  he  so  exhibited  the 
fire  of  liberty  that  burned  within  his  breast :  never 
had  he  so  vindicated  his  title  to  the  front  rank  of 
living  orators.  While  the  temporizing  speeches 
even  of  an  Everett  are  now  forgotten,  this  "  land 
mark,"  founded  on  the  eternal  principles  of  right, 
still  lives  ;  for  magna  est  veritas  et  proevelabit.  '  • 


176  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

After  an  eloquent  introduction  he  said.  — 

"  The  question  presented  for  your  consideration  is  not  sur 
passed  in  grandeur  by  any  which  has  occurred  in  our  national 
history  since  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  In  every  aspect 
it  assumes  gigantic  proportions,  whether  we  simply  consider 
the  extent  of  territory  it  concerns,  or  the  public  faith  and 
national  policy  which  it  assails,  or  that  higher  question  — that 
question  of  questions,  as  far  above  others  as  liberty  is  above  the 
common  things  of  life — which  it  opens  anew  for  judgment. 

"  It  concerns  an  immense  region,  larger  than  the  original 
thirteen  States,  vieing  in  extent  with  all  the  existing  free 
States,  stretching  over  prairie,  field,  and  forest,  interlaced 
by  silver  streams,  skirted  by  protecting  mountains,  and  consti 
tuting  the  heart  of  the  North- American  continent;  only  a 
little  smaller,  let  me  add,  than  three  great  European  countries 
combined,  —  Italy,  Spain,  and  France,  —  each  of  which  in  suc 
cession  has  dominated  over  the  globe.  This  territory  has 
already  been  likened  on  this  floor  to  the  Garden  of  God.  The 
similitude  is  found,  not  merely  in  its  present  pure  and  virgin 
character,  but  in  its  actual  geographical  situation,  occupying 
central  spaces  on  this  hemisphere,  which  in  their  general 
relations  may  well  compare  with  that  early  Asiatic  home. 
We  are  told  that 

'  Southward  through  Eden  went  a  river  large ; ' 

so  here  a  stream  flows  southward  which  is  larger  than  the 
Euphrates.  And  here,  too,  amidst  all  the  smiling  products  of 
nature  lavished  by  the  hand  of  God,  is  the  lofty  tree  of 
Liberty,  planted  by  our  fathers,  which,  without  exaggeration, 
or  even  imagination,  may  be  likened  to 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  177 

pi 

'  The  tree  of  life, 

High  eminent,  blooming  ambrosial  fruit 
Of  vegetable  gold.' 

"  It  is  with  regard  to  this  territory  that  you  are  now  called  to 
exercise  the  grandest  function  of  the  lawgiver,  by  establishing 
those  rules  of  polity  which  will  determine  its  future  character. 
As  the  twig  is  bent  the  tree  inclines;  and  the  influences 
impressed  upon  the  early  days  of  an  empire,  like  those  upon  a 
child,  are  of  inconceivable  importance  to  its  future  weal  or 
woe.  The  bill  now  before  us  proposes  to  organize  and  equip 
two  new  territorial  establishments,  with  governors,  secretaries, 
legislative  councils,  legislators,  judges,  marshals,  and  the 
whole  machinery  of  civil  society.  Such  a  measure,  at  any 
time,  would  deserve  the  most  careful  attention ;  but  at  the 
present  moment  it  justly  excites  a  peculiar  interest,  from  the 
effort  made  —  on  pretences  unsustained  by  facts,  in  violation 
of  solemn  covenant  and  of  the  early  principles  of  our  fathers 
—  to  open  this  immense  region  to  slavery." 

He  then  proceeded  to  argue  against  the  measure, 
first  in  the  "  name  of  public  faith,  as  an  infraction 
of  solemn  obligations,  and  secondly  in  the  name  of 
freedom,  as  a  departure  from  the  anti-slavery  policy 
of  our  fathers." 

The  iniquity  of  the  slave-system  he  characterized  in 
these  strong  words  :  — 

"  Slavery  is  the  forcible  subjection  of  one  human  being,  in 
person,  labor,  and  property,  to  the  will  of  another.  In  this 
simple  statement  is  involved  its  whole  injustice.  There  is  no 
offence  against  religion,  against  morals,  against  humanity, 


178  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

which  may  not,  in  the  license  of  this  institution,  stalk 
'unwhipt  of  justice.'  For  the  husband  and  wife  there  is  no 
marriage ;  for  the  mother  there  is  no  assurance  that  her  infant 
child  will  not  be  ravished  from  her  breast ;  for  all  who  bear 
the  name  of  '  slave '  there  is  nothing  that  they  can  call  their 
own.  Without  a  father,  without  a  mother,  almost  without  a 
God,  the  slave  has  nothing  but  a  master.  It  would  be  contrary 
to  that  rule  of  right  which  is  ordained  by  God,  if  such  a 
system,  though  mitigated  often  by  a  patriarchal  kindness  and 
by  a  plausible  physical  comfort,  could  be  otherwise  than  perni 
cious  in  its  influences.  It  is  confessed  that  the  master  suffers 
not  less  than  the  slave.  And  this  is  not  all :  the  whole  social 
fabric  is  disorganized ;  labor  loses  its  dignity ;  industry  sickens ; 
education  finds  no  schools  ;  and  all  the  land  of  slavery  is  im 
poverished.  And  now,  sir,  when  the  conscience  of  mankind  is 
at  last  aroused  to  these  things  ;  when  throughout  the  civilized 
world  a  slave-dealer  is  a  by-word  and  a  reproach,  —  we,  as  a 
nation,  are  about  to  open  a  new  market  to  the  traffickers  in 
flesh  that  haunt  the  shambles  of  the  South." 

In  the  course  of  his  remarks  he  made  this  forci 
ble  appeal  on  behalf  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  :  — 

"  The  Missouri  compact,  in  its  unperformed  obligations  to 
freedom,  stands  at  this  day  as  impregnable  as  the  Louisiana 
purchase. 

"  I  appeal  to  senators  about  me  not  to  disturb  it.  1 
appeal  to  the  senators  from  Virginia  to  keep  inviolate  the 
compact  made  in  their  behalf  by  James  Barbour  and  Charles 
Fenton  Mercer.  I  appeal  to  the  senators  from  South  Carolina 
to  guard  the  work- of  John  Gaillard  and  William  Lowndes.  .1 
appeal  to  the  senators  from  Maryland  to  uphold  the  com- 


OF   CHAftLES    SUMNER.  179 

promise  which  elicited  the  constant  support  of  Samuel  Smith, 
and  was  first  triumphantly  pressed  by  the  unsurpassed  elo 
quence  of  Pinkney.  I  appeal  to  the  senators  from  Delaware 
to  maintain  the  landmark  of  freedom  in  the  Territory  of  Louisi 
ana,  early  espoused  by  Louis  McLane.  I  appeal  to  the  senators 
from  Kentucky  not  to  repudiate  the  pledges  of  Henry  Clay.  I 
appeal  to  the  senators  from  Alabama  not  to  break  the  agree 
ment  sanctioned  by  the  earliest  votes  in  the  Senate  of  their 
late  most  cherished  fellow-citizen  William  Rufus  King.  Sir, 
I  have  heard  of  an  honor  that  felt  a  stain  like  a  wound.  If 
there  be  any  such  in  this  chamber,  —  as  surely  there  is,  —  it 
will  hesitate  to  take  upon  itself  the  stain  of  this  transac 
tion." 

In  respect  to  the  future  of  his  cause  he  used  this 
bold,  prophetic  language  :  — 

"  I  am  not  blind  to  the  adverse  signs ;  but  this  I  see  clearly  : 
amidst  all  seeming  discouragements,  the-  great  omens  are  with 
us.  Art,  literature,  poetry,  religion,  every  thing  which  ele 
vates  man,  —  all  are  on  our  side.  The  plough,  the  steam-engine, 
the  railroad,  the  telegraph,  the  book,  every  human  improve 
ment,  every  generous  wTord  anywhere,  every  true  pulsation  of 
every  heart  which  is  not  a  mere  muscle  and  nothing  else,  gives 
new  encouragement  to  the  warfare  with  slavery.  The  discussion 
will  proceed.  The  devices  of  party  can  no  longer  stave  it  off. 
The  subterfuges  of  the  politician  cannot  escape  it.  The  tricks 
of  the  office-seeker  cannot  dodge  it.  Wherever  an  election 
occurs,  there  this  question  will  arise.  Wherever  men  come 
together  to  speak  of  public  affairs,  there  again  will  it  be.  No 
political  Joshua  now,  with  miraculous  power,  can  stop  the  sun 
in  his  course  through  the  heavens.  It  is  even  now  rejoicing, 


180  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

like  a  strong  man,  to  run  its  race,  and  will  yet  send  its  beams 
into  the  most  distant  plantations,  —  ay,  sir,  and  melt  the  chains 
of  every  slave." 

The  grandeur  of  his  peroration  well  accords  with 
the  sublimity  of  his  theme  :  — 

"  The  North  and  the  South,  sir,  as  I  fondly  trust,  amidst  all 
differences,  will  ever  have  a  hand  and  heart  for  each  other ; 
and,  believing  in.  the  sure  prevalence  of  almighty  truth, 
I  confidently  look  forward  to  the  good  time  when  both  will 
unite,  according  to  the  sentiments  of  the  fathers  and  the  true 
spirit  of  the  constitution,  in  declaring  freedom  and  not  slavery 
national,  to  the  end  that  the  flag  o"f  the  Republic,  wherever  it 
floats,  on  sea  or  land,  within  the  national  jurisdiction,  may  not 
cover  a  single  slave.  Then  will  be  achieved  that  Union  con 
templated  at  the  beginning,  against  which  the  storms  of  faction 
and  the  assaults  of  foreign  power  shall  beat  in  vain,  as  upon 
the  Rock  of  Ages ;  and  LIBERTY,  seeking  a  firm  foothold, 

WILL  HAVE  AT  LAST  WHEREON  TO  STAND  AND  MOVE  THE 
WORLD." 

This  speech  was  read  by  millions.  It  sunk  deeply 
into  the  heart  of  the  nation.  It  was  the  Sumter 
shot,  that  roused  anew  the  spirit  of  freedom.  It  met 
with  bitterest  opposition.  It  stirred  the  embers  of 
that  fire  that  was  to  try  and  purify  —  as  gold  is  tried 
and  purified  —  the  nation.  "I  am  unused  to  flatter 
any  one,  least  of  all  one  whom  I  love  and  honor," 
said  John  G.  Whittle?  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Simmer ; 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  181 

"but  I  must  say  in  all  sincerity  that  there  is  no 
orator  or  statesman  living  in  this  country  or  in 
Europe,  whose  fame  is  so  great  as  not  to  derive  ad 
ditional  lustre  from  such  a  speech.  It  will  live  the 
full  life  of  American  history."  Prof.  C.  S.  Henry 
characterized  it  as-  "  in  every  quality  of  nobleness 
trauscendently  noble  ;  "  and  Pierre  Soul£  said,  in  a 
letter  to  the  senator,  "  Que  je  profite  de  cette  oc 
casion  pour  vous  dire  combien  j'ai  e*te  heureux  du 
succes,  et  pour  niieux  dire,  du  triomphe  e*clatant  quo 
vous  avez  obtenu  a  1'oecasion  de  votre  discours  sur 
le  Nebraska  Bill.  Courage  !  Sic  itur  ad  astra." 

On  the  night  of  the  passage  of  the  Kansas  and 
Nebraska  Bill,  May  25,  1854,  Mr.  Sumner  presented, 
in  addition  to  memorials  from  the  Society  of  Friends 
and  other  bodies,  twenty-five  separate  remonstrances 
from  clergymen  of  every  Protestant  denomination  in 
the  six  New-England  States,  and  said  with  solemn 
earnestness :  — 

"  Like  them,  sir,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  protest  here  against  the 
bill  yet  pending  before  the  Senate,  as  a  great  moral  wrong,  as 
a  breach  of  public  faith ;  as  a  measure  full  of  danger  to  the 
peace  and  even  existence  of  our  Union.  And,  sir,  believing  iu 
God  as  I  profoundly  do,  I  cannot  doubt  that  the  opening  of  an 
immense  region  to  so  great  an  enormity  as  slavery  is  calculated 
to  draw  down  upon  our  country  his  righteous  judgments. 

" '  In  the  name  of  Almighty  God,  and  in  his  presence,'  these 
remonstrants  protest  against  the  Nebraska  Bill.  In  this  solemn 


182  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

language,  which  has  been  strangely  pronounced  blasphemous  on 
this  floor,  there  is  obviously  no  assumption  of  ecclesiastical 
power,  as  has  been  perversely  charged,  but  simply  a  devout 
observance  of  the  Scriptural  injunction,  'Whatsoever  ye  do,  in 
word  or  deed,  do  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.'  Let  me  add, 
also,  that  these  remonstrants,  in  this  very  language,  have  fol 
lowed  the  example  of  the  Senate,  which  at  our  present  session 
has  ratified  at  least  one  important  treaty  beginning  with  these 
precise  words,  '  In  the  name  of  Almighty  God.'  Surely,  if  the 
Senate  may  thus  assume  to  speak,  the  clergy  may  do  likewise 
without  imputation  of  blasphemy  or  any  just  criticism,  at  least 
in  this  body. 

"  But  I  am  unwilling,  particularly  at  this  time,  to  be  be 
trayed  into  any  thing  that  shall  seem  like  a  defence  of  the 
clergy.  They  need  no  such  thing  at  my  hands.  There  are 
men  in  this  Senate,  justly  eminent  for  eloquence,  learning,  and 
ability;  but  there  is  no  man  here  competent,  except  in  his  own 
conceit,  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  clergy  of  New  England. 
Honorable  senators  who  have  been  so  swift  with  criticism  and 
sarcasm  might  profit  by  their  example.  Perhaps  the  senator 
from  South  Carolina  [Mr.  Butler],  who  is  not  insensible  to 
scholarship,  might  learn  from  them  something  of  its  graces. 
Perhaps  the  senator  from  Virginia  [Mr.  Mason],  who  finds  no 
sanction  under  the  constitution  for  any  remonstrance  from 
clergymen,  might  learn  from  them  something  of  the  privileges 
of  an  American  citizen.  And  perhaps  the  senator  from  Illinois 
[Mr.  Douglas],  who  precipitated  this  odious  measure  upon 
the  country,  might  learn  from  them  something  of  political  wis 
dom.  Sir,  from  the  first  settlement  of  these  shores,  from  those 
early  days  of  struggle  and  privation,  through  the  trials  of 
the  Revolution,  the  clergy  have  been  associated,  not  only 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  183 

with  the  piety  and  the  learning,  but  with  the  liberties,  of  the 
country.  For  a  long  time  New  England  was  governed  by 
their  prayers  more  than  by  any  acts  of  the  legislature ;  and,  at 
a  later  day,  their  voices  aided  even  the  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence.  The  clergy  of  our  time  may  speak,  then,  not  only  from 
their  own  virtues,  but  from  the  echoes  which  yet  live  in  the 
pulpits  of  their  fathers. 

"  For  myself,  I  desire  to  thank  them  for  their  generous  inter 
position.  They  have  already  done  much  good  in  moving  the 
country.  They  will  not  be  idle.  In  the  days  of  the  Revolu 
tion,  John  Adams,  yearning  for  independence,  said,  '  Let  the 
pulpits  thunder  against  oppression ! '  and  the  pulpits  thun 
dered.  The  time  has  come  for  them  to  thunder  again. 

"  Sir,"  said  he  most  pertinently  in  this  midnight  protest, 
"  the  bill  which  you  are  now  about  to  pass  is  at  once  the  worst 
and  the  best  bill  on  which  Corigress  ever  acted.  Yes,  sir, 
WORST  and  BEST  at  the  same  time. 

"  It  is  the  worst  bill,  inasmuch  as  it  is  a  present  victory  of 
slavery.  In.  a  Christian  land,  and  in  an  age  of  civilization,  a 
time-honored  statute  of  freedom  is  struck  down,  opening  the 
wray  to  all  the  countless  woes  and  wrongs  of  human  bondage. 
Among  the  crimes  of  history  another  is  about  to  be  recorded, 
which  no  tears  can  blot  out,  and  which,  in  better  days,  will  be 
read  with  universal  shame.  Do  not  start.  The  tea  tax  and 
Stamp  Act,  which  aroused  the  patriot  rage  of  our  fathers,  were 
virtues  by  the  side  of  your  transgression ;  nor  would  it  be  easy 
to  imagine,  at  this  day,  any  measure  which  more  openly  and 
perversely  defied  every  sentiment  of  justice,  humanity,  and 
Christianity.  Am  I  not  right,  then,  in  calling  it  the  worst  bill 
on  which  Congress  ever  acted  ? 

"  But  there  is  another  side  to  which  I  gladly  turn.     Sir,  it  is 


184:  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

the  best  bill  on  which  Congress  ever  acted ;  for  it  prepares  the 
way  for  that  '  All  hail  hereafter,'  when  slavery  must  disappear. 
It  annuls  all  past  compromises  with  slavery,  and  makes  all 
future  compromises  impossible.  Thus  it  puts  freedom  and 
slavery  face  to  face,  and  bids  them  grapple.  Who  can  doubt 
the  result  ?  It  opens  wide  the  door  of  the  future,  when,  at  last, 
there  will  really  be  a  North,  and  the  slave-power  will  be 
broken  ;  when  this  wretched  despotism  will  cease  to  dominate 
over  our  government,  no  longer  impressing  itself  upon  every 
thing  at  home  and  abroad;  when  the  national  government 
shall  be  divorced  in  every  way  from  slavery,  and,  according  to 
the  true  intention  of  our  fathers,  freedom  shall  be  established 
by  Congress  everywhere,  at  least  beyond  the  local  limits  of 
the  States. 

"  Slavery  will  then  be  driven  from  its  usurped  foothold  here 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  in  the  national  Territories,  and 
elsewhere  beneath  the  national  flag;  the  Fugitive-Slave  Bill, 
as  vile  as  it  is  unconstitutional,  will  become  a  dead-letter ;  and 
the  domestic  slave-trade,  so  far  as  it  can  be  reached,  but  espe 
cially  on  the  high  seas,  will  be  blasted  by  Congressional  prohi 
bition.  Everywhere  within  the  sphere  of  Congress,  the  great 
northern  hammer  will  descend  to  smite  the  wrong;  and  the 
irresistible  cry  will  break  forth,  '  No  more  slave  States  !  " 

"  Thus,  sir,  now  standing  at  the  very  grave  of  freedom  in 
Kansas  and  Nebraska,  I  lift  myself  to  the  vision  of  that  happy 
resurrection  by  which  freedom  will  be  secured  hereafter,  not 
only  in  these  Territories,  but  everywhere  under  the  national 
government.  More  clearly  than  ever  before,  I  now  see  'the 
beginning  of  the  end '  of  slavery.  Proudly  I  discern  the  flag 
of  my  country,  as  it  ripples  in  every  breeze,  at  last  become-'  in 
reality,  as  in  name,  the  flag  of  freedom,  undoubted,  pure, 


OF   CHARLES   STJMNER.  18,* 

and  irresistible.     Am  I  not  right,  then,  in  calling  this  bill  the 
best  on  which  Congress  ever  acted  ? 

"  Sorrowfully  I  bend  before  the  wrong  you  are  about  to 
enact :  joyfully  I  welcome  all  the  promises  of  the  future." 

Such  was  the  intense  excitement  of  the  country  at 
this  time,  that  these  bold  utterances,  which  expressed 
the  sober  sentiment  of  the  people  of  the  North,  threw 
Mr.  Simmer  into  great  personal  danger.  This  was 
heightened  by  a  tragical  event  which  then  occurred 
in  Boston.  On  the  day  preceding  this  midnight 
speech,  Anthony  Burns  was  arrested  as  a  fugitive 
slave,  and  held  a  prisoner  in  the  Court-House. 
Many  of  the  citizens  were  fired  with  indignation  ; 
and  on  the  evening  of  the  26th  instant,  after  an  ex 
cited  meeting  in  Faneuil  Hall,  an  attack  was  made 
upon  the  Court-House,  during  which  James  Batch- 
elder,  acting  as  a  guard,  was  killed.  This  resistance 
to  the  iniquitous  Fugitive-Slave  Law  was  attributed 
to  the  late  speech  of  Mr.  Sumner,  in  which  he  had 
said,  "  In  passing  this  bill,  as  is  now  threatened, 
you  scatter  from  this  dark  midnight-hour  no  seeds 
of  harmony  and  good- will,  but  broadcast  through  the 
land  dragons'  teeth,  which  haply  may  not  spring  up 
in  direful  crops  of  armed  men ;  but  yet  I  am  assured, 
si]1,  will  they  fructify  in  civil  strife  and  feud." 

"  He  is  a  murderer!  "  said  the  organs  of  the  admin 
istration.  "  Down  with  this  fanatical  abolitionist ! ' 


186       LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF   CHAHLES   SUMNER. 

"  Let  Sumner  and  his  infamous  gang,"  said  "  The 
Star,"  an  official  paper  at  Washington,  "  feel  that  he 
cannot  outrage  the  fame  of  his  country,  counsel 
treason  to  its  laws,  incite  the  ignorant  to  bloodshed 
and  murder,  and  still  receive  the  support  and  coun 
tenance  of  the  society  of  this  city,  which  he  has  done 
so  much  to  vilify."  The  obnoxious  speech  of  the 
"  fanatical  abolitionist "  was  not,  however,  read  in 
Boston  until  the  day  after  the  emeute,  and  the  death 
of  James  Batchelder ;  and  this  the  partisans  of  slavery 
well  knew.  "  Put  a  ball  through  his  head!  "  cried 
the  infuriated  slaveholders  of  Alexandria.  "  A 
strenuous  and  systematized  effort  is  making  here  and 
in  Alexandria,"  wrote  a  correspondent,  May  31,  to 
"  The  New-York  Times,"  "  to  raise  a  mob  against 
Senator  Sumner,  in  retaliation  for  the  Boston  diffi 
culty."  But,  though  menaced  on  every  hand,  and 
once  threatened  and  insulted  at  a  restaurant ;  though 
counselled  by  his  friends  to  leave  Washington,  —  Mr. 
Sumner  continued  to  walk  unattended  and  unarmed, 
as  usual,  through  the  streets.  He  knew  no  fear. 
"  Let  the  minions  of  the  administration  and  of  the 
slaveocracy  harm  one  hair  of  your  head,"  wrote  to 
him  his  friend  George  Livermore  of  Cambridge, 
"  and  they  will  raise  a  whirlwind  that  will  sweep 
them  to  destruction." 
This  word  was  verified. 


CHAPTER  XL 

The  Persistent  Course  of  Mr.  Simmer.  —  Petition  of  the  Citizens  of 
Boston.  —  Condemnation  of  the  Fugitive-Slave  Bill.  —  Defence 
of  Massachusetts.  —  Violent  Opposition.  —  Opinions  of  Messrs. 
Chase,  Giddings,  Andrew,  and  Channing. — A  Tribute  from 
Whittier. —  A  Specimen  of  Senatorial  Tactics. — Anti-Slavery 
Sentiment  Extending. —  Formation  of  the  Republican  Party. — 
Mr.  Simmer's  Eeception  and  Speech  at  Worcester. —  Tyranny  of 
the  Slave-Power.  —  Backbone  needed. —  The  American  Merchant. 
— Mr.  Wilson  enters  the  United-States  Senate.  — The  Position  and 
Out-look. — Mr.  Simmer's  Plan  of  Emancipation.  —  Speech  in 
New  York  May  9,  1855.  —  Spread  of  Anti-Slavery  Sentiment.  — 
His  Views  of  Slave-Hunting. — The  American  Party. — All  Men 
equal  in  Ilespect  to  the  Law.  —  Oiir  Indebtedness  to  Foreigners. 

"Where  is  charity?  Where  is  the  love  of  God?  Where  is  the  zeal  for 
his  glory?  Where  is  desire  for  his  service?  Where  is  human  pity,  and  the 
compassion  of  man  for  man?  Certainly,  to  redeem  a  captive,  to  liberate  him 
from  wretched  slavery,  is  the  highest  work  of  charity,  of  all  that  can  be  done 
in  this  world."  —  Topograjia  y  Historia  de  Argel  por  FRA  HAEDO. 

"  And  'tis  for  this  we  live,  — 
To  smite  the  oppressor  with  the  words  of  power ; 

To  bid  the  tyrant  give 
Back  to  his  brother  Heaven's  allotted  hour." 

WILLIAM  HOWITT. 

jOVED  by  a  lofty  purpose,  —  the  redemption 
of  the  slave,  —  sustained  by  the  rectitude  of 
his   intentions,  and   by  the   generous   sym 
pathies    of    many    advocates   of    freedom    both    in 

187 


188  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

America  and  Europe,  the  inflexible  patriot  pursued 
his  course  with  giant  stride ;  and,  though  the  domi 
nant  party  held  him  in  contempt,  it  trembled  when 
he  struck. 

The  rendition  of  Anthony  Burns  to  servitude,  and 
the  violent  scenes  thereon  attendant,  served  to 
deepen  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  in  Massachusetts  ; 
and  a  petition  for  the  repeal  of  the  Fugitive-Slave 
Bill,  signed  by  two  thousand  nine  hundred  citizens 
of  Boston,  many  of  whom  had  hitherto  opposed  the 
course  of  Mr.  Sumner,  was  on  the  twenty-second  day 
of  June,  1854,  presented  to  the  Senate  by  Mr.  Rock 
well,  who  had  taken  the  place  of  Mr.  Everett.  An 
exciting  debate  arose  on  the  motion  to  refer  this 
memorial,  when  Mr.  Sumner  took  the  floor  in  de 
fence  of  himself  and  Massachusetts. 

"  So  far  as  the  arraignment  touches  me  personally,"  he  said, 
"I  hardly  care  to  speak.  It  is  true  that  I  have  not  hesitated, 
here  and  elsewhere,  to  express  my  open,  sincere,  and  unequivo 
cal  condemnation  of  the  Fugitive-Slave  Bill.  I  have  de 
nounced  it  as  at  once  a  violation  of  the  law  of  God,  and  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

"  In  violation  of  the  constitution,  it  commits  the  great 
question  of  human  freedom — than  which  none  is  more  sacred 
in  the  law  —  not  to  a  solemn  trial,  but  to  summary  proceedings. 

"  It  commits  this  question,  not  to  one  of  the  high  tribunals 
of  the  land,  but  to  the  unaided  judgment  of  a  single  petty 
magistrate. 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNEB.  189 

"  It  commits  this  question  to  a  magistrate  appointed,  not  by 
the  President  with  the  consent  of  the  Senate,  but  by  the  court ; 
holding  his  office,  not  during  good  behavior,  but  merely  during 
the  will  of  the  court ;  and  receiving,  not  a  regular  salary,  but 
fees  according  to  each  individual  case. 

"It  authorizes  judgment  on  ex  parte  evidence,  by  affidavits, 
without  the  sanction  of  cross-examination. 

"  It  denies  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  ever  known  as  the  pal 
ladium  of  the  citizen. 

"  Contrary  to  the  declared  purposes  of  the  framers  of  the 
constitution,  it  sends  the  fugitive  back  '  at  the  public  ex 
pense.' 

"  Adding  meanness  to  the  violation  of  the  constitution,  it 
bribes  the  commissioner  by  a  double  fee  to  pronounce  against 
freedom.  If  he  dooms  a  man  to  slavery,  the  reward  is  ten  dol 
lars  ;  but,  saving  him  to  freedom,  his  dole  is  five  dollars." 

"  In  response  for  Massachusetts,"  he  emphatically  asserted, 
"  there  are  other  things.  Something  surely  must  be  par 
doned  to  her  history.  In  Massachusetts  stands  Boston.  In 
Boston  stands  Faneuil  Hall,  where,  throughout  the  perils  which 
preceded  the  Revolution,  our  patriot  fathers  assembled  to  vow 
themselves  to  freedom.  Here,  in  those  days,  spoke  James 
Otis,  full  of  the  thought  that  '  the  people's  safety  is  the  law  of 
God.'  Here  also  spoke  James  Warren,  inspired  by  the  senti 
ment  that '  death  with  all  its  tortures  is  preferable  to  slavery.' 
And  here  also  thundered  John  Adams,  fervid  with  the  con 
viction  that  '  consenting  to  slavery  is  a  sacrilegious  breach  of 
trust.'  Not  far  from  this  venerable  hall  —  between  this  temple 
of  freedom  and  the  very  court-house  to  which  the  senator  [Mr. 
Jones]  has  referred  —  is  the  street  where,  in  1770,  the  first 
blood  was  spilt  in  conflict  between  British  troops  and  American 


190  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

citizens ;  and  among  the  victims  was  one  of  that  African  race 
which  you  so  much  despise.  Almost  within  sight  is  Bunker 
Hill :  farther  off,  Lexington  and  Concord.  Amidst  these  scenes 
a  slave-hunter  from  Virginia  appears ;  and  the  disgusting  rites 
begin  by  which  a  fellow-man  is  to  be  doomed  to  bondage. 
Sir,  can  you  wonder  that  the  people  were  moved? 

'  Who  can  be  wise,  amazed,  temperate,  and  furious, 
Loyal  and  neutral,  in  a  moment?    No  mail.' 

"  It  is  true  that  the  Slave  Act  was  with  difficulty  executed, 
and  that  one  of  its  servants  perished  in  the  effort.  On  these 
grounds  the  senator  from  Tennessee  charges  Boston  with 
fanaticism.  I  express  no  opinion  on  the  conduct  of  indi 
viduals  ;  but  I  do  say  that  the  fanaticism  which  the  senator 
condemns  is  not  new  in  Boston.  It  is  the  same  which  opposed 
the  execution  of  the  Stamp  Act,  and  finally  secured  its  repeal. 
It  is  the  same  which  opposed  the  tea  tax.  It  is  the  fanati 
cism  which  finally  triumphed  on  Bunker  Hill.  The  senator 
says  that  Boston  is  filled  with  traitors.  That  charge  is  not 
new.  Boston,  of  old,  was  the  home  of  Hancock  and  Adams. 
Her  traitors  now  are  those  who  are  truly  animated  by  the 
spirit  of  the  American  Revolution.  In  condemning  them,  in 
condemning  Massachusetts,  in  condemning  these  remonstrants, 
you  simply  give  a  proper  conclusion  to  the  utterance  on  this 
floor,  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence  is  *  a  self-evident 
lie.'" 

This  manly  speech,  as  the  last  one  on  the  Kansas 
and  Nebraska  Bill,  hit  the  vulnerable  point  of  his 
opponents,  and  was  followed  by  a  torrent  of  vitnpera- 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  191 

tion  and  abuse.  Said  Mr.  Mason  of  Virginia  in  a 
most  contemptuous  tone :  "  I  am  speaking  of  a 
fanatic,  one  whose  reason  is  dethroned.  Can  such 
a  one  expect  to  make  impressions  upon  the  American 
people  from  his  rabid,  vulgar  declamation  here, 
accompanied  by  a  declaration  that  he  would  violate 
his  oath  now  recently  taken  ?  " 

In  spite  of  bitter  opposition,  Mr.  Sumner  on  the 
28th  instant  again  obtained  the  floor,  and  made  a 
masterly  reply  to  his  assailants,  and  a  glorious  defence 
of  the  Commonwealth  he  represented.  Though  his 
reason  were  "  dethroned,"  enough  was  left  to  anni 
hilate  the  arguments  and  meet  the  taunts  of  Messrs. 
Mason,  Butler,  Petitt,  and  other  domineering  and 
abusive  senators. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  splendid  speech,  Mr. 
Chase  said  to  him,  "  You  have  struck  slavery  the 
strongest  blow  it  ever  received :  you  have  made  it 
reel  to  the  centre."  Said  Mr.  Giddings,  "  Sumner 
stood  inimitable,  and  hurled  back  the  taunts  of  his 
assailants  with  irresistible  force."  "  Your  recent  en 
counter  with  the  wild  beasts  of  Ephesus,"  wrote 
John  A.  Andrew  to  him,  "  has  been  a  brilliant  suc 
cess."  "  Sumner,"  wrote  Edward  T.  Channing  to  a 
friend,  "  has  done  nobly.  He  is  erect,  and  a  man  of 
authority  among  the  slave  holders,  dealers,  and  hunt 
ers.  He  has  made  an  historical  era  for  the  North." 


192  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

He  had  done  so ;  for  thousands  of  the  temporizing 
saw,  by  this  masterly  exposition  of  the  weakness  of 
the  slave-power,  and  by  the  ferocity  manifested  in 
this  debate,  that  the  dark  wave  of  human  servitude 
must  be  stayed ;  that  there  was  business  to  be  done ; 
and  that  it  was  time  to  wheel  into  the  line  of  those 
who  had  the  will  and  backbone  to  go  forward. 
Among  the  many  cordial  tributes  Mr.  Sumner  re 
ceived  for  this  massive  argument  in  defence  of  North 
ern  principles,  none  was  more  welcome  than  these 
elegant  lines  of  John  G.  Whittier :  — 

TO   CHARLES   SUMNER. 

If  I  have  seemed  more  prompt  to  censure  wrong 

Than  praise  the  right ;  if  seldom  to  thine  ear 

My  voice  hath  mingled  with  the  exultant  cheer, 

Borne  upon  all  our  Northern  winds  along ; 

If  I  have  failed  to  join  the  fickle  throng, 

In  wide-eyed  wonder  that  thou  standest  strong 

In  victory,  surprised  in  thee  to  find 

Brougham's  scathing  power  with  Channing's  grace  combined, 

That  he  for  whom  the  ninefold  Muses  sung, 

From  their  twined  arms  a  giant  athlete  sprung, 

Barbing  the  arrows  of  his  native  tongue 

With  the  spent  shafts  Latona's  archer  flung 

To  smite  the  Python  of  our  land  and  time, 

Fell  as  the  monster  born  of  Crissa's  slime, 

Like  the  blind  bard  who  in  Castalian  springs 

Tempered  the  steel  that  clove  the  crest  of  kings, 

And  on  the  shrine  of  England's  freedom  laid 

The  gifts  of  Cumse  and  of  Delphi's  shade,  — 


OP  CHARLES   SUMNER.  193 

Small  need  hast  thou  of  words  of  praise  from  me. 

Thou  knowest  my  heart,  dear  friend,  and  well  canst  guess 

That,  even  though  silent,  I  have  not  the  less 

Rejoiced  to  see  thy  actual  life  agree 

With  the  large  future  which  I  shaped  for  thee, 

When,  years  ago,  beside  the  summer  sea, 

White  in  the  moon,  we  saw  the  long  waves  fall, 

Baffled  and  broken,  from  the  rocky  wall, 

That  to  the  menace  of  the  brawling  flood 

Opposed  alone  its  massive  quietude, 

Calm  as  a  fate,  with  not  a  leaf  nor  vine 

Nor  birch-spray  trembling  in  the  still  moonshine, 

Crowning  it  like  God's  peace.     I  sometimes  think 

That  night-scene  by  the  sea  prophetical, 

(For  Nature  speaks  in  symbols  and  in  signs, 

And  through  her  pictures  human  fate  divines),  — 

That  rock  wherefrom  we  saw  the  billows  sink 

In  mumuring  rout,  uprising  clear  and  tall 

In  the  white  light  of  heaven,  the  type  of  one 

Who,  momently  by  error's  host  assailed, 

Stands  strong  as  Truth,  in  greaves  of  granite  mailed, 

And,  tranquil-fronted,  listening  over  all 

The  tumult,  hears  the  angels  say,  "  Well  done  !  " 

J.   G.  W. 

llth  MOXTH,  25th,  1854. 


Bravely  and  persistently  Mr.  Sumner  pressed  the 
question  of  slavery  upon  the  attention  of  the  Senate ; 
but  he  met  at  every  point  malignant  opposition. 
Parliamentary  practice  was  boldly  set  aside  to  thwart 
his  purposes.  "  The  miscreant  must  be  silenced!" 
was  the  general  cry.  A  specimen  of  the  debate  on 
the  thirty-first  day  of  July  will  exhibit  the  tactics  of 
the  partisans  of  slavery. 


194  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

During  the  passage  of  two  unimportant  measures, 
Mr.  Sumner  endeavored  to  present  a  proposition  for 
the  repeal  of  the  Fugitive-Slave  Act ;  and,  having 
gained  the  floor,  this  interesting  scene  occurred :  — 

Mr.  SUMNER.  In  pursuance  of  notice,  I  now  ask 
leave  to  introduce  a  bill. 

Mr.  STUART  (of  Michigan).  I  object  to  it,  and 
move  to  take  up  the  River  and  Harbor  Bill. 

THE  PRESIDING  OFFICER  (Mr.  Cooper  of  Penn 
sylvania).  The  other  bill  is  not  disposed  of,  —  the 
third  reading  of  a  Bill  for  the  Relief  of  Betsey  Nash. 

The  bill  was  then  read  a  third  time,  and  passed. 

Mr.  SUMNER.  In  pursuance  of  notice,  I  ask  leave 
to  introduce  a  bill  which  I  now  send  to  the  table. 

Mr.  STUART.  Is  that  in  order  ? 

Mr.  SUMNER.  Why  not  ? 

Mr.  BENJAMIN  (of  Louisiana).  There  is  a  pend 
ing  motion  of  the  senator  from  Michigan  to  take  up 
the  River  and  Harbor  Bill. 

THE  PRESIDING  OFFICER.  That  motion  was  not 
entertained,  because  the  senator  from  Massachusetts 
had  and  has  the  floor. 

Mr.  STUART.  I  make  the  motion  now. 

THE  PRESIDING  OFFICER.  The  Chair  thinks  it  is 
in  order  to  give  the  notice. 

Mr.  SUMNER.  Notice  has  been  given ;  and  I  now, 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  195 

in  pursuance  of  notice,  introduce  the  bill.  The 
question  is  on  its  first  reading. 

THE  PRESIDING  OFFICER.  The  first  reading  of  a 
bill. 

Mr.  NORRIS  (of  New  Hampshire).  I  rise  to  a 
question  of  order. 

Mr.  SUMNER.  I  believe  I  have  the  floor. 

Mr.  NORRIS.  But  I  rise  to  a  question  of  order.  I 
submit  that  that  is  not  the  question.  The  senator 
from  Massachusetts  has  given  notice  that  he  would 
ask  leave  to  introduce  a  bill.  He  now  asks  that 
leave.  If  there  be  objection,  the  question  must  be 
decided  by  the  Senate,  whether  he  shall  have  leave  or 
not.  Objection  is  made ;  and  the  bill  cannot  be  read. 

Mr.  SUMNER.  Very  well ;  the  first  question,  then, 
is  on  granting  leave ;  and  the  title  of  the  bill  will 
be  read. 

THE  PRESIDING  OFFICER  (to  the  Secretary).  Read 
the  title. 

The  Secretary  read  it  as  follows :  "  A  Bill  to  repeal 
the  Act  of  Congress,  approved  Sept.  18,  1850,  for 
the  Surrender  of  Fugitives  from  Service  or  Labor." 

THE  PRESIDING  OFFICER.  The  question  is  on 
granting  leave  to  introduce  the  bill. 

Mr.  SUMNER.  And  I  have  the  floor. 

THE  PRESIDING  OFFICER.  The  senator  from  Mas 
sachusetts  is  entitled  to  the  floor. 


196  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

Mr.  SUMNER.  I  shall  not  occupy  much  time,  nor 
shall  I  debate  the  bill.  Some  time  ago,  Mr.  Presi 
dent,  after  the  presentation  of  the  memorial  from 
Boston,  signed  by  twenty-nine  hundred  citizens, 
without  distinction  of  party,  I  gave  notice  that  I 
should,  at  a  day  hereafter,  ask  leave  to  introduce  a 
bill  for  the  repeal  of  the  Fugitive-Slave  Act.  Desir 
ous,  however,  not  to  proceed  prematurely,  I  awaited 
the  action  of  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary,  to 
which  the  memorial,  and  others  of  a  similar  charac 
ter,  were  referred.  At  length  an  adverse  report  was 
made,  and  accepted  by  the  Senate.  From  the  time 
of  that  report  down  to  this  moment,  I  have  sought 
an  opportunity  to  introduce  this  bill.  Now,  at  last, 
I  have  it.  At  a  former  session,  sir,  in  introducing  a 
similar  proposition,  I  considered  it  at  length,  in  an 
argument  which  I  fearlessly  assert  — 

Mr.  GWIN  (of  California).  I  rise  to  a  point  of 
order.  Has  the  senator  a  right  to  debate  the  ques 
tion,  or  say  any  thing  on  it,  until  leave  be  granted  ? 

THE  PRESIDING  OFFICER.  My  impression  is  that 
the  question  is  not  debatable. 

Mr.  SUMNER.  I  propose  simply  to  explain  my 
bill,  —  to  make  a  statement,  not  an  argument. 

Mr.  GWIN.  I  make  the  point  of  order. 

THE  PRESIDING  OFFICER.  I  am  not  aware  pre 
cisely  what  the  rule  of  order  on  the  subject  is ;  but  I 


OP  CHARLES  SUMNER.  197 

have  the  impression  that  the  senator  cannot  de 
bate — 

Mr.  SUMNER.  The  distinction  is  this  — 

Mr.  GWLN.  I  insist  upon  the  application  of  the 
decision  of  the  Chair. 

Mr.  MASON  (of  Virginia).  Mr.  President,  there 
is  one  rule  of  order  that  is  undoubted,  —  that,  when 
the  Chair  is  stating  a  question  of  order,  he  must  not 
be  interrupted  by  a  senator.  There  is  no  question 
about  that  rule  of  order. 

THE  PRESIDING  OFFICER.  The  senator  did  not 
interrupt  the  Chair. 

Mr.  SUMNER.  The  Chair  does  me  justice,  in  re 
sponse  to  the  injustice  of  the  senator  from  Vir 
ginia. 

THE  PRESIDING  OFFICER.  Order!  order! 

Mr.  MASON.  The  senator  is  doing  that  very  thing 
at  this  moment.  I  am  endeavoring  to  sustain  the 
authority  of  the  Chair,  which  certainly  has  been 
violated. 

THE  PRESIDING  OFFICER.  It  is  the  opinion  of 
the  Chair  that  the  debate  is  out  of  order.  I  am  not 
precisely  informed  of  what  the  rule  is ;  but  such  is 
my  clear  impression, 

Mr.  WALKER  (of  Wisconsin).  If  the  senator  from 
Massachusetts  will  allow  me,  I  will  say  a  word  here. 

Mr.  SUMNER.  Certainly. 


198  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

Thus,  fearful  of  the  truth,  and  fencing  off  the 
question,  the  slaveoeracy  prolonged  the  struggle 
through  the  entire  day ;  and,  at  the  close,  the  Senate 
determined  not  to  introduce  the  bill.  But  the  ele 
ments  were  in  commotion ;  the  breast  of  the  nation 
was  heaving ;  a  spirit  was  abroad  which  neither  sena 
torial  manceuvrings  nor  "unjust  laws  nor  bannered 
army  could  intimidate  or  resist. 

Under  the  persistent  arrogance  of  the  South,  the 
anti-slavery  sentiment  of  the  North  was  still  extend 
ing  ;  and,  in  order  to  combine  the  scattered  elements 
opposed  to  the  servile  system  into  one  grand,  com 
pact,  and  solid  body,  the  Republican  party  was, 
through  the  constructive  power  of  Henry  Wilson 
and  a  few  other  leading  politicians,  formed  in  the 
summer  of  1854  to  occupy  the  place  of  the  Free-soil 
organization.  A  large  convention  was  held  in  the 
city  of  Worcester  on  the  seventh  day  of  September, 
over  which  the  Hon.  Robert  Rantoul  of  Beverly  pre 
sided.  As  Mr.  Sumner  entered  the  convention,  the 
whole  assembly  rose,  and  with  long-continued  cheer 
ing  gave  him  welcome  as  their  honored  champion. 
He  then  made  one  of  the  most  effective  and  brilliant 
speeches  ever  heard  in  that  city.  His  theme  was 
"  The  Duties  of  Massachusetts  at  the  Present 
Crisis  ;  "  and  with  the  skill  of  a  master  whose  heart 
its  glowing  with  the  grandeur  of  his  subject,  whose 


OP  CHARLES   SUMNER.  199 

tongue  is  touched  with  a  celestial  flame,  he  proceeded 
amidst  continued  outbursts  of  applause  from  the  vast 
audience. 

"  After  months,"  said  he,  "  of  constant,  anxious 
service  in  another  place,  away  from  Massachusetts, 
I  am  permitted  to  stand  among  you,  my  fellow-citi 
zens,  and  to  draw  satisfaction  and  strength  from 
your  generous  presence.  Life  is  full  of  changes  and 
contrasts.  From  slave  soil  I  have  come  to  free  soil : 
from  the  tainted  breath  of  slavery  I  have  passed  to 
this  bracing  air  of  freedom  ;  and  the  heated  antagon 
ism  of  debate,  shooting  forth  its  fiery  cinders,  is 
changed  into^  this  brimming,  overflowing  welcome, 
where  I  seem  to  lean  on  the  great  heart  of  our  beloved 
Commonwealth  as  it  palpitates  audibly  in  this 
crowded  assembly. 

"  Let  me  say  at  once,  frankly  and  sincerely,  that  I 
have  not  come  here  to  receive  applause,  or  to  give 
occasion  for  any  tokens  of  public  regard,  but  simply 
to  unite  with  my  fellow-citizens  in  new  vows  of 
duty.  And  yet  I  would  not  be  thought  insensible  to 
the  good- will  now  swelling  from  so  many  honest 
bosoms :  it  touches  me  more  than  I  can  tell. 

"  During  the  late  session  of  Congress,  an  eminent 
supporter  of  the  Nebraska  Bill  said  to  me,  with 
great  animation,  in  language  which  I  give  with  some 
precision,  that  you  may  appreciate  the  style  as  well 


200  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

as  the  sentiment,  '  I  would  not  go  through  all  that 
you  do  on  this  nigger  question,  for  all  the  offices  and 
honors  of  the  country.'  To  which  I  naturally  and 
promptly  replied,  'Nor  would  I,  for  all  the  offices 
and  honors  of  the  country.'  Not  in  such  things  can 
be  found  the  true  inducements  to  this  warfare.  For 
myself,  if  I  have  been  able  to  do  any  thing  in  any 
respect  not  unworthy  of  you,  it  is  because  I  thought 
rather  of  those  commanding  duties  which  are  above 
office  and  honor." 

In  the  progress  of  his  address  he  said  with  empha 
sis, — 

"  The  Fugitive-Slave  Bill,  monstrous  in  cruelty 
as  in  unconstitutionality,  is  a  usurpation  which 
must  be  opposed.  The  admission  of  new  slave 
States,  from  whatsoever  quarter,  from  Texas  or  Cuba, 
Utah  or  New  Mexico,  must  be  opposed.  And  to 
every  scheme  of  slavery  —  whether  in  Cuba  or  Mexi 
co,  on  the  high  seas  in  opening  the  slave-trade,  in 
the  West  Indies,  the  valley  of  the  Amazon,  whether 
accomplished  or  merely  plotted,  whether  Bending  or 
in  prospect  —  we  must  send  forth  an  everlasting 

NO!" 

He  concluded  his  grand  address  by  these  memora 
ble  words  :  — 

"  By  the  passage  of  the  Nebraska  Bill,  and  the 
Boston  kidnapping  case,  the  tyranny  of  the  slave- 


OF  CHARLES   SUMMER.  201 

power  has  become  unmistakably  manifest ;  while,  at 
the  same  time,  all  compromises  with  slavery  are  hap 
pily  dissolved,  so  that  freedom  now  stands  face  to 
face  with  its  foe.  The  pulpit,  too,  released  from  ill- 
omened  silence,  now  thunders  for  freedom,  as  in 
the  olden  time.  It  belongs  to  Massachusetts — nurse 
of  the  men  and  principles  which  made  the  earliest 
Revolution  —  to  vow  herself  anew  to  her  ancient 
faith,  as  she  lifts  herself  to  the  great  struggle.  Her 
place  now,  as  of  old,  is  in  the  van,  at  the  head  of  the 
battle.  But,  to  sustain  this  advanced  position  with 
proper  inflexibility,  three  things  are  needed  by  our 
beloved  Commonwealth,  in  all  her  departments  of 
government, — the  same  three  things  which  once  in 
Faneuil  Hall  I  ventured  to  say  were  needed  by  every 
representative  of  the  North  at  Washington.  The 
first  is  backbone ;  the  second  is  BACKBONE  ;  and  the 
third  is  BACKBONE.  With  these  Massachusetts 
will  be  respected,  and  felt  as  a  positive  force  in  the 
national  government;  while  at  home,  on  her  own 
soil,  — free  at  last  in  reality  as  in  name,  —  all  her  peo 
ple,  from  the  islands  of  Boston  to  Berkshire  Hills, 
and  from  the  sands  of  Barnstable  to  the  northern 
line,  will  unite  in  the  cry,  — 

"  No  slave-hunt  in  our  borders  I  no  pirate  on  our  strand  1 
No  fetter  in  the  Bay  State  1  no  slave  upon  her  land  1" 


202  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

Mr.  Smnner  was  called  this  autumn  to  bear  the 
loss  of  his  beloved  brother  Albert,  his  wife  and 
daughter  Kate,  who  perished  in  the  ill-fated  steamer 
"  Arctic  "  which  collided  with  the  French  steamer 
"  Vesta  "  off  Newfoundland,  Sept.  27, 1854,  sending 
three  hundred  persons  to  an  ocean-grave.  Albert 
was  an  able  financier,  and  had  been  of  great  service  to 
his  mother  in  her  economical  affairs.  The  Sumner 
family  long  hoped  that  some  way  of  escape  from  the 
wreck  had  been  effected ;  but  no  tidings  of  the  un 
fortunate  voyagers  ever  came. 

On  the  evening  of  the  15th  of  November,  1854, 
Mr.  Sumner  delivered  an  admirable  address  before 
the  Mercantile  Library  Association  of  Boston,  on 
"  The  Position  and  Duties  of  the  Merchant,"  which 
he  illustrated  by  sketching  the  life  of  Granville 
Sharp,  the  earliest  abolitionist  of  England.  In  por 
traying  the  character  of  this  eminent  philanthropist, 
he  pointed  out  the  duties  of  the  mercantile  profes 
sion,  especially  in  respect  to  slavery  and  the  practi 
cal  demands  of  the  present  age. 

On  the  tenth  day  of  February,  1855,  Henry 
Wilson,  a  fearless  representative  of  the  working-men, 
and  of  the  progressive  spirit,  of  Massachusetts,  took 
his  seat  in  the  United-States  Senate.  His  advent 
was  hailed  with  joy  by  Mr.  Sumner,  who  saw  in  him 
a  combatant  well  girded  to  repel  the  assaults  on 


OP   CHARLES   SUMNER.  203 

freedom.  They  were  stigmatized  as  "  Black  Repub 
licans,"  and  held  as  members  sent  for  the  reception 
of  the  ridicule  and  invective  of  the  dominant  party ; 
but  they  well  understood  its  weakness,  and  by  a 
kind  of  inspiration  prophesied  its  coming  dissolu 
tion.  Their  own  cause,  they  as  clearly  saw,  stood 
on  the  immutable  basis  of  the  gospel :  they  heard 
afar  the  rolling  of  the  tidal  wave  ;  they  caught  faint 
glimpses  of  the  dawn  of  a  new  day.  "A  forlorn 
hope,"  said  politicians  on  the  lower  plane.  But 
the  feet  of  Sumner  and  of  Wilson  touched  the 
rock :  their  temples  felt  the  breeze  of  an  incoming 
power.  Shoulder  to  shoulder  they,  beneath  the 
aegis  of  the  constitution,  defiantly  confronted  their 
opponents,  and  with  burning  words  denounced  the 
usurpations  of  the  partisans  of  slavery.  They  were 
heroes ;  and  men  now  accord  to  them  this  appella 
tion. 

Referring  to  the  course  pursued  by  Mr.  Sumner  in 
Congress,  Theodore  Parker  says,  in  a  letter  to  Henry 
Wilson,  dated  Feb.  15,  1855,  - 

"  What  a  noble  stand  Sumner  has  taken  and  kept  in  the 
Senate !  He  is  one  of  the  few  who  have  grown  morally  as  well 
as  intellectually  by  his  position  in  Congress.  But  his  example 
shows  that  politics  do  not  necessarily  debase  a  man  in  two 
years.  I  hope  the  office  may  do  as  much  for  you  as  for  your 
noble  and  generous  colleague." 


204  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

Mr.  Sumner's  next  senatorial  effort,  Feb.  23, 
1855,  was  an  earnest  speech,  during  which  he  was 
frequently  interrupted  by  Messrs.  Rusk  and  Butler, 
on  the  repeal  of  the  Fugitive-Slave  Act.  In  the 
course  of  his  remarks,  he  declared  again  his  plan  of 
emancipation  to  be,  not  a  political  revolution,  but  the 
awakening  of  an  enlightened,  generous,  human, 
Christian,  public  opinion,  which  "  should  blast  with 
contempt,  indignation,  and  abhorrence,  all  who,  in 
whatever  form,  or  under  whatever  name,  undertake 
to  be  agents  in  enslaving  a  fellow-man."  At  the 
close  of  his  speech,  Mr.  Butler  said,  "  I  will  ask  the 
gentleman  one  question  :  If  it  devolved  upon  him-  as 
a  representative  of  Massachusetts,  all  federal  laws 
being  put  out  of  the  way,  would  he  recommend  any 
law  for  the  delivery  of  a  fugitive  slave  under  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States  ?  " 

"  NEVER  !  "  Mr.  Sumner  instantly  replied. 

The  following  letter  to  his  classmate  the  Rev.  S. 
B.  Babcock.  D.D.,  of  Dedham,  exhibits  his  anxiety 
for  union  at  the  North :  — 

SENATE  CHAMBER,  March  30,  1854. 

MY  DEAR  BABCOCK,  —  Your  letter  has  cheered  and  strength 
ened  me.  It  came  to  me,  too,  with  pleasant  memories  of  early 
life.  As  I  read  it,  the  gates  of  the  past  seemed  to  open ;  and  I 
saw  again  the  bright  fields  of  study  in  which  we  walked  to 
gether.  Our  battle  has  been  severe;  and  much  of  its  brunt 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNBR.  205 

has  fallen  upon  a  few.  For  weeks  my  trials  and  anxieties 
were  intense.  It  is  a  satisfaction  to  know  that  they  have 
found  sympathy  among  good  men. 

But  the  slave-power  will  push  its  tyranny  yet  farther ;  and 
there  is  but  one  remedy,  —  union  among  men,  without  distinc 
tion  of  party,  at  the  North,  who  shall  take  possession  of  the 
national  government,  and  administer  it  in  the  spirit  of  free 
dom  and  not  of  slavery.  Oh  1  when  will  the  North  be 

aroused  ? 

Ever  sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNEB. 

On  the  9th  of  May  following,  lie  delivered,  at  the 
Metropolitan  Theatre,  New  York,  a  brilliant  address 
on  "  The  Necessity,  Practicabilit}^  and  Dignity  of 
the  Anti-Slavery  Enterprise."  In  presenting  him  to 
the  vast  audience,  the  Hon.  William  Jay  said,  "  I 
introduce  him  to  you  as  a  Northern  senator  on  whom 
nature  has  conferred  the  unusual  gift  of  a  backbone, 
— a  man  who,  standing  erect  on  the  floor  of  Con 
gress  amid  creeping  things  from  the  North,  with 
Christian  fidelity  denounces  the  stupendous  wicked 
ness  of  the  Fugitive  Law  and  Nebraska  perfidy,  and, 
in  the  name  of  liberty,  humanity,  and  religion,  de 
mands  the  repeal  of  those  most  atrocious  enact 
ments." 

Speaking  of  the  outspread  and  power  of  the  anti- 
slavery  sentiment,  Mr.  Sumner  beautifully  said,  "  It 

18 


206  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

touches  the  national  heart  as  it  never  before  was 
touched,  sweeping  its  strings  with  a  might  to  draw 
forth  emotions  such  as  no  political  struggle  has  ever 
evoked.  It  moves  the  young,  the  middle-aged,  and 
the  old.  It  enters  the  family  circle,  and  mingles 
with  the  flame  of  the  household  hearth.  It  reaches 
the  souls  of  mothers,  wives,  sisters,  and  daughters, 
filling  all  with  a  new  aspiration  for  justice  on  earth, 
and  awakening  not  merely  a  sentiment  against 
slavery,  such  as  prevailed  with  our  fathers,  but  a 
deep,  undying  conviction  of  its  wrong,  and  a  deter 
mination  to  leave  no  effort  unattempted  for  its  re 
moval.  With  the  sympathies  of  all  Christendom  as 
allies,  it  has  already  encompassed  the  slave-masters 
by  a  moral  blockade,  invisible  to  the  eye,  but  more 
potent  than  navies,  from  which  there  can  be  no  es 
cape  except  in  final  capitulation." 

Referring  to  the  contemptible  part  performed  by 
the  slave-hunter,  he  made  the  emphatic  declaration : 
"  For  myself,  let  me  say  that  I  can  imagine  no  office, 
no  salary,  no  consideration,  which  I  would  not  gladly 
forego  rather  than  become  in  any  way  an  agent  for 
the  enslavement  of  my  brother-man.  Where,  for 
me,  would  be  comfort  or  solace  after  such  a  work  ? 
In  dreams  and  waking  hours,  in  solitude  and  in  the 
street,  in  the  study  of  the  open  book,  and  in  conver 
sation  with  the  world,  wherever  I  turned,  there  my 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  207 

victim  would  stare  me  in  the  face ;  while,  from  the 
distant  rice-fields  and  sugar-plantations  of  the  South, 
his  cries  beneath  the  vindictive  lash,  his  moans  at 
the  thought  of  liberty  once  his,  now  —  alas !  —  rav 
ished  away,  would  pursue  me,  repeating  the  tale  of 
his  fearful  doom,  and  sounding,  forever  sounding,  in 
my  ears,  '  Thou  art  the  man.'  Mr.  President,  may 
no  such  terrible  voice  fall  on  your  soul  or  mine ! " 

He  concluded  this  magnificent  address  by  these 
strong  words :  — 

"  Face  to  face  against  the  SLAVE  OLIGARCHY  must 
be  rallied  the  UNITED  MASSES  of  the  North,  in 
compact  political  association,  planted  on  the  ever 
lasting  base  of  justice,  knit  together  by  the  instincts 
of  a  common  danger  and  by  the  holy  sympathies  of 
humanity ;  enkindled  by  a  love  of  freedom,  not  only 
for  themselves,  but  for  others ;  determined  to  enfran 
chise  the  national  government  from  degrading 
thraldom ;  and  constituting  the  BACKBONE  PARTY, 
powerful  in  numbers,  wealth,  and  intelligence,  but 
more  powerful  still  in  an  inspiring  cause.  Let  this 
be  done,  and  victory  will  be  ours." 

Entertaining  broad  and  catholic  views  of  human 
ity  and  brotherhood,  Mr.  Sumner  did  not  identify 
himself  with  the  American  or  "  Know-Nothing " 
organization,  which  he  truly  characterized  as  a  "  sep 
arate  "  and  "  short-lived  "  party.  "  Cut  off  from  the 


208  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

main  body,"  said  he,  "  it  may  still  show  a  brief  vital 
ity,  as  a  head  of  a  turtle  still  bites  for  some  days  after 
it  is  severed  from  the  neck,  but  can  have  no  perma 
nent  existence." 

"It  is  proposed,"  he  as  justly  as  eloquently  re 
marked,  "  to  attaint  men  for  their  religion,  and  also 
for  their  birth.  If  this  object  can  prevail,  vain  are  the 
triumphs  of  civil  freedom  in  its  many  hard-fought 
fields,  vain  is  that  religious  toleration  which  we  all 
profess.  The  fires  of  Smithfield,  the  tortures  of 
the  Inquisition,  the  proscriptions  of  non-conformists, 
may  all  be  revived.  It  was  mainly  to  escape  these 
outrages,  dictated  by  a  dominant  religious  sect,  that 
our  country  was  early  settled,  in  one  place  by  Quak 
ers,  who  set  at  nought  all  forms;  in  another  by 
Puritans,  who  disowned  bishops ;  in  another  by  Epis 
copalians,  who  take  their  name  from  bishops  ;  and  in 
yet  another  by  Catholics,  who  look  to  the  pope 
as  their  spiritual  father.  Slowly  among  sects  was 
evolved  the  great  idea  of  the  equality  of  all  men  be 
fore  the  law,  without  regard  to  religious  belief;  nor 
can  any  party  now  organize  a  proscription  merely  for 
religious  belief,  without  calling  in  question  this  un 
questionable  principle.  .  .  . 

"  The  history  of  our  country  in  its  humblest  as  well 
as  most  exalted  spheres  testifies  to  the  merits  of  for 
eigners.  Their  strong  arms  have  helped  furrow  our 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  209 

broad  territory  with  canals,  and  stretch  in  every 
direction  the  iron  rail.  They  have  filled  our  work 
shops,  navigated  our  ships,  and  tilled  our  fields.  Go 
where  you  will,  among  the  hardy  sons  of  toil  on  land 
or  sea,  and  there  you  will  find  industrious  and  faith 
ful  foreigners  bending  their  muscles  to  the  work. 
At  the  bar,  and  in  the  high  places  of  commerce,  you 
will  find  them.  Enter  the  retreats  of  learning,  and 
there  you  will  find  them  too,  shedding  upon  our 
country  the  glory  of  science.  Nor  can  any  reflec 
tion  be  cast  upon  foreigners  claiming  hospitality 
now,  which  will  not  glance  at  once  upon  the  distin 
guished  living  and  the  illustrious  dead;  upon  the 
Irish  Montgomery,  who  perished  for  us  at  the  gates 
of  Quebec ;  upon  Pulaski  the  Pole,  who  perished 
for  us  at  Savannah ;  upon  De  Kalb  and  Steuben,  the 
generous  Germans,  who  aided  our  weakness  by  their 
military  experience ;  upon  Paul  Jones  the  Scotch 
man,  who  lent  his  unsurpassed  courage  to  the  infant 
thunders  of  our  navy ;  also  upon  those  great  Euro 
pean  liberators,  Kosciusko  of  Poland,  and  Lafayette 
of  France,  each  of  whom  paid  his  earliest  vows  to 
liberty  in  our  cause.  Nor  should  this  list  be  con 
fined  to  military  characters,  so  long  as  we  gratefully 
cherish  the  name  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  who  was 
born  in  the  West  Indies,  and  the  name  of  Albert 
Gallatin,  who  was  born  in  Switzerland,  and  never,  to 

18* 


210        LIFE  AND   TIMES   OF   CHABLES   SUMNER. 

the  close  of  his  octogenarian  career,  lost  the  French 
accent  of  his  boyhood,  —  both  of  whom  rendered 
civic  services  which  may  be  commemorated  among 
the  victories  of  peace." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Struggles  in  Kansas.  —  Excitement  through  the  Country  and  in 
Congress.  —  Remarks  of  Mr.  Sumner  on  the  Reports  of  Messrs. 
Douglas  and  Collamer.  —  His  Speech  on  the  Admission  of  Kansas. 

—  The  Exordium.  —  Reference  to  Mr.  Douglas. — The  Nebraska 
Bill  a  Swindle.  —Defence  of  Massachusetts.— The  Conclusion  of 
the  Speech. —The  Effect  of  the  Speech.  — Remarks  of  Mr.  Wil 
son.  —  The  Assault  on  Mr.  Sumner. —  His  Account  of  the  Same. 

—  The  Effect  of   this  Assault  on  the  North  and  South.  —  Mr. 
Brooks  challenges  Mr.  Wilson,  also  Mr.  Burlingame.  —  Mr.  Sum 
ner  at  Cape  May ;  at  Cresson ;  at  Philadelphia. 

"  I  know  no  figure  in  history  which  commands  more  of  my  admiration  than 
that  of  Charles  Sumner  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  from  the  hour 
when  Douglas  presented  Ms  ill-omened  measure  for  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise  until  the  blow  of  the  assassin  laid  him  low.  Here  was  the  per 
fection  of  moral  constancy  and  daring.  Here  was  sleepless  vigilance,  unwea 
rying  labor,  hopefulness  born  only  of  deepest  faith,  buoyant  resolution,  caring 
nothing  for  human  odds,  but  serenely  abiding  in  the  perfect  peace  which 
the  unselfish  service  of  truth  alone  can  bring."  —  HON.  BOBEBT  B.  ELLIOTT. 

"  Strike,  but  hear!  "  —  Greek  Proverb. 

JY  the  Kansas  and  Nebraska  Act,  passed  in 
May,  1854,  a  vast  extent  of  virgin  territory, 
in  the  heart  of  this  continent,  was  laid  open 
both  to  free  and  servile  labor;  and  immigration  at 
once  began  to  set  in  from  the  North  and  South,  thus 

211 


212  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

bringing  freedom  and  slavery  hand  to  hand  and  face 
to  face.  The  field  was  broad  enough  for  a  mighty 
kingdom.  Which  party  now  shall  have  the  mas 
tery  ? 

The  Northern  Emigrant  Aid  Society,  under  the 
direction  of  the  Hon.  Eli  Thayer,  encouraged  hardy 
men  to  take  possession  of  the  country  in  the  name 
of  liberty,  and  to  plant  the  institutions  of  the  Pil 
grim  Fathers  on  those  fertile  plains.  The  South 
sent  forward  lawless  bands  of  marauding  slave 
holders,  to  establish  there  its  inhuman  system. 
Although  the  Northern  emigrant  went  with  peaceful 
intentions  only,  it  was  natural  to  suppose  that  colli 
sions  would  ensue,  since  it  is  impossible  that  free 
and  servile  industry  should  harmoniously  co-exist; 
and  then  commenced  indeed  a  struggle,  especially 
for  ascendency  in  political  affairs,  which  was  marked 
by  most  revolting  scenes  of  violence  and  bloodshed. 
"  The  first  ballot-box  that  was  opened  upon  our 
virgin  soil,  Nov.  29,  1854,"  wrote  Gen.  Pomeroy, 
"  was  closed  to  us  by  overpowering  numbers  and 
impending  force." 

At  the  first  election  of  the  legislature,  March  30, 
1855,  organized  bands  of  armed  and  lawless  men 
from  Missouri,  entering  the  territory,  exercised  com 
plete  control  over  the  ballot-box ;  and  in  the  autumn 
of  the  same  year  gross  outrages  were  perpetrated 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNElt.  213 

by  the  border  ruffians  at  Lawrence,  and  several  unof 
fending  citizens  murdered. 

"Crush  them  out !"  said  Gen.  Stringfellow :  ulet 
them  vote  at  the  point  of  the  bowie-knife  and 
revolver." 

The  whole  country  was  aroused.  "  Down  with 
the  Black  Republicans !  "  and  "  Disunion  !  "  were  the 
Southern,  "  No  more  slave  territory ! "  "No  slave- 
hunting  !  "  were  the  Northern  watchwords.  To  quell 
the  outrages  in  Kansas,  the  advocates  of  freedom 
demanded  of  the  administration  immediate  and 
decisive  action  ;  but,  subservient  to  the  slave  oligar 
chy,  it  steadily  fanned  the  flame  of  the  aggressive 
party. 

The  contest  deepened  in  the  halls  of  Congress. 
Front  to  front  the  defenders  of  the  two  opposing* 
systems  stood,  with  crimination  and  recrimination, 
taunt,  invective,  and  defiance,  on  their  tongues.  In 
trenched  in  principle,  calm  and  unterrined  as  a 
Roman  gladiator,  Mr.  Sumner  met  the  shafts  of 
hatred,  and  dealt  with  stalwart  arm  his  deadly  blows 
against  the  servile  institution.  He  was  then  the 
best  representative  of  freedom  living.  During  the 
winter  he  said  to  Mr.  Waldo  Higginson,  "  The  ses 
sion  will  not  pass  without  the  Senate-chamber's 
becoming  the  scene  of  some  unparalleled  outrage  ;  " 
but  he  had  no  fears  except  that  he  might  not  fulfil 
his  duty  to  his  country. 


214  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Respecting  the  reports  of  Mr.  Douglas  and  Mr.  Col- 
lamer  on  affairs  in  Kansas,  presented  in  the  Senate 
March  13,  1856,  Mr.  Simmer  said,  "  In  the  report  of 
the  majority  (by  Mr.  Douglas)  the  true  issue  is  smoth 
ered  :  in  that  of  the  minority  (signed  by  Mr.  Col- 
lamer  alone)  the  true  issue  stands  forth  as  a  pillar  of 
fire  to  guide  the  country.  I  have  no  desire,"  con 
tinued  he,  "  to  precipitate  the  debate  on  this  impor 
tant  question,  under  which  the  country  already 
shakes  from  side  to  side,  and  which  threatens  to 
scatter  from  its  folds  civil  war." 

A  short  time  afterwards  Mr.  Seward  presented 
"  A  Bill  for  the  Admission  of  Kansas  into  the  Union," 
on  which  an  acrimonious  debate  ensued.  In  the 
course  of  the  discussion  Mr.  Sumner,  on  the  19th 
and  20th  of  May,  made  his  celebrated  speech  en 
titled  "  The  Crime  against  Kansas."  His  positions 
were,  first,  the  crime  against  Kansas  in  its  origin 
and  extent ;  secondly,  the  apologies  for  the  crime ; 
and,  thirdly,  the  true  remedy. 

In  this  masterly  philippic,  he  disclosed  the  atroci 
ties  of  slavery  with  the  vigor  of  an  intellectual  ath 
lete.  He  laid  under  contribution  for  this  attack  on 
slavery  the  acquisitions  of  a  ripe  scholar,  the  wisdom 
of  an  enlightened  statesman,  the  eloquence  of  an  ac 
complished  orator,  and  the  courage  of  an  invincible 
champion  of  liberty.  He  sent  with  steadiest  aim  shot 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  215 

after  shot  into  the  intrenchments  of  the  arrogant  de 
fenders  of  the  servile  institution,  and  triumphantly 
vindicated  the  policy  of  the  friends  of  free  men,  free 
labor,  and  free  speech. 

In  his  exordium  he  thus  boldly  sets  forth  the 
crime,  and  foreshadows  the  great  events  to  come :  — 

"  But  the  wickedness  which  I  now  begin  to  expose  is  im 
measurably  aggravated  by  the  motive  which  prompted  it.  Not 
in  any  common  lust  for  power  did  this  uncommon  tragedy  have 
its  origin.  It  is  the  rape  of  a  virgin  Territory,  compelling  it 
to  the  hateful  embrace  of  slavery ;  and  it  may  be  clearly 
traced  to  a  depraved  longing  for  a  new  slave  State,  the  hideous 
offspring  of  such  a  crime,  in  the  hope  of  adding  to  the  power 
of  slavery  in  the  national  government.  Yes,  sir;  when  the 
whole  world,  alike  Christian  and  Turk,  is  rising  up  to  condemn 
this  wrong,  and  to  make  it  a  hissing  to  the  nations,  here  in  our 
Republic,  force  —  ay,  sir,  FORCE  —  has  been  openly  employed 
in  compelling  Kansas  to  this  pollution,  and  all  for  the  sake  of 
political  power.  There  is  the  simple  fact,  which  you  will 
vainly  attempt  to  deny,  but  which  in  itself  presents  an  essen 
tial  wickedness  that  makes  other  public  crimes  seem  like 
public  virtues. 

"  But  this  enormity,  vast  beyond  comparison,  swells  to  di 
mensions  of  wickedness  which  the  imagination  toils  in  vain  to 
grasp,  when  it  is  understood  that  for  this  purpose  are  hazarded 
the  horrors  of  intestine  feud,  not  only  in  this  distant  Territory, 
but  everywhere  throughout  the  country.  Already  the  muster 
has  begun.  The  strife  is  no  longer  local,  but  national.  Even 
now,  while  I  speak,  portents  hang  on  all  the  arches  of  the  hori 
zon,  threatening  to  darken  the  broad  land,  which  already 


216  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

yawns  with  the  mutterings  of  civil  war.  The  fury  of  the 
propagandists  of  slavery,  and  the  calm  determination  of  their 
opponents,  are  now  diffused  from  the  distant  Territory  over 
wide-spread  communities,  and  the  whole  country  in  all  its 
extent;  marshalling  hostile  divisions,  and  foreshadowing  a 
strife,  which,  unless  happily  averted  by  the  triumph  of  freedom, 
will  become  war,  — fratricidal,  parricidal  war,  — with  an  accumu 
lated  wickedness  beyond  the  wickedness  of  any  war  in  human 
annals  ;  justly  provoking  the  avenging  judgment  of  Providence 
and  the  avenging  pen  of  history  ;  and  constituting  a  strife,  in 
the  language  of  the  ancient  writer,  more  than  foreign,  more 
than  social,  more  than  civil,  but  something  compounded  of  all 
these  strifes,  and  in  itself  more  than  war  :  sed  potius  commune 
quoddam  ex  omnibus,  et  plus  quam  bellum" 

He  thus  refers  to  Mr.  Douglas,  who,  in  subservi 
ence  to  the  South,  was  moving  on  that  fatal  course 
in  which  Daniel  Webster  ignominiously  fell : — 

"  The  senator  dreams  that  he  can  subdue  the  North.  He 
disclaims  the  open  threat ;  but  his  conduct  still  implies  it.  How 
little  that  senator  knows  himself,  or  the  strength  of  the  cause 
which  he  persecutes  1  He  is  but  a  mortal  man  :  against  him  is 
an  immortal  principle.  With  finite  power  he  wrestles  with  the 
infinite ;  and  he  must  fall.  Against  him  are  stronger  battalions 
than  any  marshalled  by  mortal  arm,  —  the  inborn,  ineradica 
ble,  invincible  sentiments  of  the  human  heart :  against  him  is 
Nature  in  all  her  subtle  forces  :  against  him  is  God.  Let  him 
try  to  subdue  these  !  " 

The  act   which   opened   Kansas   to   the   rule    of 


OF   CHARLES    SUMNBB.  217 

slavery,  he  characterizes  in  the  following  trenchant 
language :  — 

"  Sir,  the  Nebraska  Bill  was  in  every  respect  a  swindle.  It 
was  a  swindle  by  the  South  of  the  North.  It  was,  on  the  part 
of  those  who  had  already  completely  enjoyed  their  share  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  a  swindle  of  those  whose  share  was  yet 
absolutely  untouched ;  and  the  plea  of  unconstitutionally  set 
up  —  like  the  plea  of  usury  after  the  borrowed  money  has  been 
enjoyed  —  did  not  make  it  less  a  swindle.  Urged  as  a  bill  of 
peace,  it  was  a  swindle  of  the  whole  country.  Urged  as  open 
ing  the  doors  to  slave-masters  with  their  slaves,  it  was  a  swindle 
of  the  asserted  doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty.  Urged  as 
sanctioning  popular  sovereignty,  it  was  a  swindle  of  the  as 
serted  rights  of  slave-masters.  It  was  a  swindle  of  a  broad 
Territory,  thus  cheated  of  protection  against  slavery.  It  was  a 
swindle  of  a  great  cause,  early  espoused  by  Washington, 
Franklin,  and  Jefferson,  surrounded  by  the  best  fathers  of  the 
republic.  Sir,  it  was  a  swindle  of  God-given,  inalienable 
rights.  Turn  it  over,  look  at  it  on  all  sides,  —  and  it  is  every 
where  a  swindle  ;  and,  if  the  word  I  now  employ  has  not  the 
authority  of  classical  usage,  it  has  on  this  occasion  the  indu 
bitable  authority  of  fitness.  No  other  word  will  adequately 
express  the  mingled  meanness  and  wickedness  of  the  cheat." 

Of  the  State  of  Massachusetts  he  thus  grandly 
speaks  :  — 

"  God  be  praised  !     Massachusetts,  honored  Commonwealth 
that  gives  me  the  privilege  to  plead  for  Kansas  on  this  floor, 
knows  her  rights,  and  will  maintain  them  firmly  to   the   end. 
10 


218  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

This  is  not  the  first  time  in  history  that  her  public  acts  have 
been  arraigned,  and  that  her  public  men  have  been  exposed  to 
contumely.  Thus  was  it  when,  in  the  olden  time,  she  began  the 
great  battle  whose  fruits  you  all  enjoy.  But  never  yet  has  she 
occupied  a  position  so  lofty  as  at  this  hour.  By  the  intelligence 
of  her  population ;  by  the  resources  of  her  industry ;  by  her 
commerce,  cleaving  every  wave  ;  by  her  manufactures,  various 
as  human  skill ;  by  her  institutions  of  education,  various  as 
human  knowledge  ;  by  her  institutions  of  benevolence,  various 
as  human  suffering ;  by  the  pages  of  her  scholars  and  histo 
rians  ;  by  the  voice  of  her  poets  and  orators,  —  she  is  now 
exerting  an  influence  more  subtle  and  commanding  than  ever 
before ;  shooting  her  far-darting  rays  wherever  ignorance, 
wretchedness,  or  wrong  prevail ;  and  flashing  light  even  upon 
those  who  travel  far  to  persecute  her.  Such  is  Massachusetts  ; 
and  I  am  proud  to  believe  that  you  may  as  well  attempt,  with 
puny  arm,  to  topple  down  the  earth-rooted,  heaven-kissing 
granite  which  crowns  the  historic  sod  of  Bunker  Hill,  as  to 
change  her  fixed  resolves  for  freedom  everywhere,  and  espe 
cially  now  for  freedom  in  Kansas.  I  exult,  too,  that  in  this 
battle,  which  surpasses  far  in  moral  grandeur  the  whole  war  of 
the  Revolution,  she  is  able  to  preserve  her  just  eminence.  To 
the  first  she  contributed  a  larger  number  of  troops  than  any 
other  State  in  the  Union,  and  larger  than  all  the  slave 
States  together  ;  and  now  to  the  second,  which  is  not  of  con 
tending  armies,  but  of  contending  opinions,  on  whose  issue 
hangs  trembling  the  advancing  civilization  of  the  country,  she 
contributes,  through  the  manifold  and  endless  intellectual  ac 
tivity  of  her  children,  more  of  that  divine  spark  by  which 
opinions  are  quickened  into  life  than  is  contributed  by  any 
other  State,  or  by  all  the  slave  States  together  ;  while  her 


OF   CHABLES   SUMNER.  219 

annual  productive  industry  excels  in  value  three    times   the 
whole  vaunted  cotton-crop  of  the  wh<31e  South. 

Sir,  to  men  on  earth  it  belongs  only  to  deserve  success,  not 
to  secure  it ;  and  I  know  not  how  soon  the  efforts  of  Massachu 
setts  will  wear  the  crown  of  triumph.  But  it  cannot  be  that 
she  acts  wrong  for  herself  or  children,  when  in  this  cause  she 
thus  encounters  reproach.  No:  by  the  generous  souls  who 
were  exposed  at  Lexington ;  by  those  who  stood  arrayed  at  Bun 
ker  Hill ;  by  the  many  from  her  bosom  who,  on  all  the  fields 
of  the  first  great  struggle,  lent  their  vigorous  arms  to  the  cause 
of  all ;  by  the  children  she  has  borne  whose  names  alone  are 
national  trophies,  —  is  Massachusetts  now  vowed  irrevocably  to 
this  work.  What  belongs  to  the  faithful  servant  she  will  do  in 
all  things  ;  and  Providence  shall  determine  the  result." 

The  closing  words  are  worthy  of  the  speaker  and 
the  occasion :  — 

"In  just  regard  for  free  labor  in  that  Territory  which  it  is 
sought  to  blast  by  unwelcome  association  with  slave-labor ;  in 
Christian  sympathy  with  the  slave,  whom  it  is  proposed  to  task 
and  to  sell  there ;  in  stern  condemnation  of  the  crime  which 
has  been  consummated  on  that  beautiful  soil ;  in  rescue  of 
fellow-citizens  now  subjugated  to  a  tyrannical  usurpation ;  in 
dutiful  respect  for  the  early  fathers  whose  aspirations  are  now 
ignobly  thwarted  ;  in  the  name  of  the  constitution,  which  .has 
been  outraged,  of  the  laws  trampled  down,  of  justice  ban 
ished,  of  humanity  degraded,  of  peace  destroyed,  of  freedom 
crushed  to  earth ;  and  in  the  name  of  the  heavenly  Father, 
whose  service  is  perfect  freedom,  —  I  make  this  last  appeal."  * 

*  "I  have  read  and  re-read  thy  speech,"  wrote  J.  G.  Wliittier 
to  Mr.  Sumner,  "and  look  upon  it  as  thy  best,  —  a  grand  and  terrible 


220  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

Never  had  the  slaveholding  power  received  a 
deadlier  blow.  In  the  course  of  his  remarks,  he 
had  spoken  somewhat  freely  of  the  chivalry  of  Mr. 
Butler,  and  of  the  sectionalism  of  South  Carolina. 
It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  for  four  long 
years  he  had  patiently  borne  the  systematic  assaults 
of  this  senator,  and  that  there  is  a  time  when  "  for 
bearance  ceases  to  be  a  virtue."  "  The  senator  from 
South  Carolina  has  applied  to  my  colleague,"  said 
Mr.  Wilson,  in  his  strong  defence  of  Mr.  Sumner 
delivered  in  the  senate  on  the  thirteenth  day  of 
June,  "  every  expression  calculated  to  wound  the 
sensibilities  of  an  honorable  man,  and  to  draw  down 
upon  him  sneers,  obloquy,  and  hatred,  in  and  out  of 
the  senate.  In  my  place  here,  I  now  pronounce 
these  continued  assaults  upon  my  colleague  unpar 
alleled  in  the  history  of  the  senate.  .  .  .  The  speech 
was  indeed  severe,  —  severe  as  truth,  —  but  in  all 
respects  parliamentary.  It  is  true  that  it  handles 
the  senator  from  South  Carolina  freely  ;  but  that 
senator  had  spoken  repeatedly  in  the  course  of  the 
Kansas  debate,  once  at  length  and  elaborately,  and 

philippic  worthy  of  the  great  occasion ;  the  severe  and  awful  truth 
which  the  Sharp  agony  of  the  national  crisis  demanded.  It  is 
enough  for  immortality.  So  far  as  thy  own  repiitation  is  concerned, 
nothing  more  is  needed ;  but  this  is  of  small  importance.  "We  can 
not  see  as  yet  the  entire  results ;  but  every  thing  now  indicates  that 
it  has  saved  the  country." 


OF    CHARLES    SUMNER.  221 

at  other  times  more  briefly  foisting  himself  into  the 
speeches  of  other  senators,  and  identifying  himself 
completely  with  the  crime  which  my  colleague  felt  it 
his  duty  to  arraign.  It  was  natural,  therefore,  that 
his  course  in  the  debate,  and  his  position,  should  be 
particularly  considered.  And  in  this  work  Mr. 
Sumner  had  no  reason  to  hold  back,  when  he 
thought  of  the  constant,  systematic,  and  ruthless 
attacks  which,  utterly  without  cause,  he  had  re 
ceived  from  that  senator.  The  only  objection  which 
the  senator  from  South  Carolina  can  reasonably 
make  to  Mr.  Sumner  is,  that  he  struck  a  strong 
blow." 

That  strong  blow  hit  the  mark.  "  Now  what  is 
to  be  done  with  the  Black  Republican  ?  "  said  the 
knights  of  Southern  chivalry.  "  His  words  are  dam 
aging.  He  has  the  audacity  of  a  Danton.  He  must 
be  silenced.  Shall  we  challenge  him  ?  but  he  will 
not  fight.  What,  then,  is  to  be  done  with  him?" 
A  fiendish  plot  was  laid.  Two  days  subsequent  to 
the  conclusion  of  his  speechTMr.  Sumner  was  sit 
ting  at  his  narrow  desk  in  the  Senate-chamber  with 
his  head  bent  forward,  earnestly  engaged  in  writing. 
The  Senate  had  adjourned  sooner  that  day  than 
usual ;  and  several  senators,  as  Messrs.  Douglas, 
Geyer,  Toombs,  Iverson,  and  Crittenden,  together 
with  some  strangers,  were  conversing  near  him. 


222  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Preston  S.  Brooks,  a  nephew  of  Mr.  Butler,  and 
member  of  the  House  from  South  Carolina,  then 
entered  the  chamber,  and  remained  until  the  friends 
of  Mr.  Simmer  had  retired.  He  had  with  him  a 
gold-headed,  hollow,  gutta-percha  cane.  Coming 
directly  up  in  front  of  Mr.  Simmer's  desk,  and  ad 
dressing  to  him  a  short  remark,  he  suddenly  struck 
him  with  his  heavy  cane,  opening  a  long  and  fearful 
gash  upon  the  back  part  of  his  head.  In  quick  suc 
cession  Brooks  repeated  his  murderous  blows  until 
Mr.  Sumner,  rising,  wrenched  the  desk  from  the  floor, 
to  which  it  was  firmly  screwed,  and,  under  the  fiend 
ish  pounding,  which  continued  until  the  cane  was 
shivered  in  pieces,  fell  forward,  bleeding  and  insen 
sible  as  a  dead  man,  on  the  floor  now  covered  with 
his  blood.  "  Do  you  want  the  pieces  of  your  cane, 
Mr.  Brooks  ?  "  said  a  page  of  the  Senate,  picking  up 
the  bloody  fragments. 

"  Only  the  gold  head,"  replied  the  assailant,  de 
liberately  thrusting  it  into  his  coat-pocket. 

"  The  next  time,  kill  him,  Brooks,"  said  Keitt, 
who  stood  in  the  doorway  with  a  pistol.  "  Come,  let 
us  go  and  take  a  drink."  They  did  so  ;  and  Bright, 
Douglas,  Edmundson,  leaving  the  wounded  man 
weltering  in  blood,  immediately  followed  them. ^ 

Of  the  senators  present,  John  J.  Crittenden  of 
Kentucky  only  proffered  aid,  and  condemned  the 


OF    CHARLES   SUMNER.  223 

outrage.  Mr.  Morgan  of  New  York  supported  the 
bleeding  head  of  Mr.  Sumner,  and  assisted  in  remov 
ing  him  to  a  sofa  in  the  lobby  of  the  Senate-chamber. 
Mr.  Wilson,  who  was  in  the  room  of  Mr.  Banks  at 
the  time  of  the  attack,  came  immediately  to  the  aid 
of  his  colleague,  and  with  others  raised  him,  after  his 
wounds  had  been  dressed,  into  a  carriage,  —  attended 
him  to  his  lodgings,  placed  him  upon  his  couch,  and 
alleviated  his  pain.  During  the  night  he  lay  pale  and 
bewildered,  and  could  scarcely  speak  to  the  few  per 
sons  standing  by  his  bedside.  His  brother  George 
Sumner  soon  came  to  Washington,  and,  in  conversa 
tion  with  Senator  Charles  T.  James,  said,  "  What 
ought  I  to  do  ?  "  "If  it  were  my  brother,"  replied 
the  Congressman,  "  I  would  take  a  short,  dou>  le- 
barrelled  shot-gun,  put  it  under  my  cloak,  wa] \t  up 
to  the  house  of  representatives,  and  right  in  his 
chair,  as  he  attacked  my  brother,  I  would  blow  him 
to  pieces."  "  I  shall  do  no  such  thing,"  returned 
the  brother  of  the  wounded  senator.  As  soon  as 
Mr.  Sumner  was  able,  he  gave,  while  lying  in  his 
bed,  the  following  testimony  in  respect  to  the 
assault :  — 

"  I  attended  the  Senate  as  usual  on  Thursday,  the  22d  of 
May.  After  some  formal  business,  a  message  was  received 
from  the  House  of  Representatives,  announcing  the  death  of  a 
member  of  that  body  from  Missouri.  This  was  followed  by  a 


224  LIFE   AND    TIMES 

brief  tribute  to  the  deceased  from  Mr.  Geyer  of  Missouri, 
when,  according  to  usage  and  out  of  respect  to  the  deceased, 
the  Senate  adjourned  at  once.  Instead  of  leaving  the  Senate- 
chamber  with  the  rest  of  the  senators,  on  the  adjournment,  I 
continued  in  my  seat  occupied  with  my  pen ;  and  while  thus 
intent,  in  order  to  be  in  season  for  the  mail,  which  was  soon  to 
close,  I  was  approached  by  several  persons  who  desired  to 
converse  with  me ;  but  I  answered  them  promptly  and  briefly, 
excusing  myself  for  the  reason  that  I  was  engaged.  When 
the  last  of  these  persons  left  me,  I  drew  my  arm-chair  close  to 
my  desk,  and  with  my  legs  under  the  desk  continued  writing. 

"My  attention  at  this  time  was  so  entirely  drawn  frcni  all 
other  objects,  that,  although  there  must  have  been  many  per 
sons  in  the  Senate,  I  saw  nobody.  While  thus  intent,  with  my 
head  bent  over  my  writing,  I  wras  addressed  by  a  person  who 
a^  proached  the  front  of  my  desk.  I  was  so  entirely  absorbed, 
that  I  was  not  aware  of  his  presence  until  I  heard  my  name 
prone  meed.  As  I  looked  up  with  pen  in  hand,  I  saw  a  tall 
man,  whose  countenance  was  not  familiar,  standing  directly 
over  me,  and  at  the  same  moment  caught  these  words,  'I 
have  read  your  speech  twice  over  carefully :  it  is  a  libel  on 
South  Carolina,  and  Mr.  Butler,  who  is  a  relative  of  mine.' 
While  these  words  were  still  passing  from  his  lips,  he  com 
menced  a  succession  of  blows  with  a  heavy  cane  on  my  bare 
head,  by  the  first  of  which  I  was  stunned  so  as  to  lose  my 
sight.  I  saw  no  longer  my  assailant,  nor  any  other  person  or 
object  in  the  room.  What  I  did  afterwards  was  done  almost 
unconsciously,  acting  under  the  instincts  of  self-defence. 
With  head  already  bent  down,  I  rose  from  my  seat,  wrenching 
up  my  desk,  which  was  screwed  to  the  floor,  and  then  pressing 
forward,  while  my  assailant  continued  his  blows.  I  had  no 


OF    CHARLES    SUMNER.  225 

other  consciousness  until  I  found  myself  ten  feet  forward  in 
front  of  my  desk,  lying  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  with  my 
bleeding  head  supported  on  the  knee  of  a  gentleman  whom  I 
soon  recognized,  by  voice  and  manner,  as  Mr.  Morgan  of  New 
York.  Other  persons  there  were  about  me,  offering  me 
friendly  assistance ;  but  I  did  not  recognize  any  of  them. 
Others  there  were  at  a  distance,  looking  on  and  offering  no 
assistance,  of  whom  I  recognized  only  Mr.  Douglas  of  Illinois, 
Mr.  Toombs  of  Georgia,  and  I  thought  also  my  assailant 
standing  between  them.  I  was  helped  from  the  floor,  and  con 
ducted  into  the  lobby  of  the  Senate,  where  I  was  placed  upon  a 
sofa.  Of  those  who  helped  me  here  I  have  no  recollection. 
As  I  entered  the  lobby,  I  recognized  Mr.  Slidell  of  Louisiana, 
who  retreated  ;  but  I  recognized  no  one  else  until  I  felt  a 
friendly  grasp  of  the  hand,  which  seemed  to  come  from  Mr. 
Campbell  of  Ohio.  I  have  a  vague  impression  that  Mr. 
Bright,  president  of  the  Senate,  spoke  to  me  while  I  was  on 
the  floor  of  the  lobby.  I  make  this  statement  in  answer  to, 
the  interrogatory  of  the  committee,  and  offer  it  as  presenting 
completely  all  my  recollections  of  the  assault  and  of  the 
attending  circumstances,  whether  immediately  before  or  imme 
diately  after.  I  desire  to  add,  that,  besides  the  words  which  I 
have  given  as  uttered  by  my  assailant,  I  have  an  indistinct 
recollection  of  the  words  '  old  man  ; '  but  these  are  so  envel 
oped  in  the  mist  which  ensued  from  the  first  blow,  that  I  am 
not  sure  whether  they  were  uttered  or  not." 

"  On  the  cross-examination  of  Mr.  Sumner,  he  stated  that  he 
was  entirely  without  arms  of  any  kind,  and  that  he  had  no 
notice  or  warning  of  any  kind,  direct  or  indirect,  of  this 
assault. 

"  In  answer  to  a  cross-question,  Mr.    Sumner  replied  that 


226  LIFE   AND    TIMES 

what  he  had  said  of  Mr.  Butler  was  strictly  responsive  to  Mr. 
Butler's  speeches,  and  according  to  the  usages  of  parliamen 
tary  debate." 

In  this  dastardly  assault,  Preston  S.  Brooks  struck 
the  heart  of  every  slave  and  every  friend  of  freedom 
on  this  continent. 

In  his  mad  attempt  to  crush  one  champion  of  hu 
manity,  he  called  forth  millions.  In  his  barbarous 
effort  to  stay  the  fountain  of  liberty,  he  unloosed 
the  gates ;  for,  as  Kossuth  most  nobly  said,  "  Its 
waters  will  flow :  every  new  drop  of  martyr-blood 
will  increase  the  tide.  Despots  may  dam  its  flood, 
but  never  stop '  it.  The  higher  its  dam,  the  higher 
the  tide  :  it  will  overflow  or  break  through." 

The  .news  of  the  outrage  on  Mr.  Suniner  was 
borne  with  lightning  speed  to  every  section  of  the 
country ;  and  at  the  North  speakers  and  resolutions 
in  popular  assemblies,  the  pulpit  and  the  press,  in 
earnest  words,  declared  the  public  indignation.  At 
a  large  'meeting  in  Faneuil  Hall,  Gov.  Henry  J. 
Gardner  said,  "  We  must  stand  by  him  who  is  the 
representative  of  Massachusetts,  under  all  circum 
stances."  Peleg  W.  Chandler  remarked  that  "  Every 
drop  of  blood  shed  by  him  in  this  disgraceful  affair 
has  raised  up  ten  thousand  armed  men." 

At  the  dinner  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Soci 
ety,  at  the  Revere  House,  Boston,  Dr.  O.  W.  Holmes 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  227 

gave  this  characteristic  toast :  "  To  the  surgeons  of 
the  city  of  Washington.  God  grant  them  wisdom ! 
for  they  are  dressing  the  wounds  of  a  mighty  empire, 
and  of  uncounted  generations." 

At  a  great  indignation-meeting  in  Albany,  held  on 
the  6th  of  June,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Halley  said,  "We 
are  slaves  if  we  permit  these  atrocities  to  go  on 
unchallenged." 

At  a  mass-meeting  in  New- York  City,  Henry 
Ward  Beecher.  truly  said,  "  Mr.  Sumner  had  no 
other  weapon  in  his  hand  than  his  pen.  Ah !  gen 
tlemen,  here  we  have  it.  '  The  symbol  of  the  North 
is  the  pen :  the  symbol  of  the  South  is  the  blud 
geon."  The  voice  of  the  slaveholders  at  the  South 
was  of  course  in  approval  of  the  atrocious  deed. 
",The  Richmond  Enquirer"  of  June  12  said,  "In 
the  main  the  press  of  the  South  applaud  the  con 
duct  of  Mr.  Brooks  without  condition  or  limitation. 
Sumner,  in  particular,  ought  to  have  nine  and  thirty 
early  every  morning."  "  The  Charleston  Standard  " 
said  of  Mr.  Brooks,  "  He  will  be  recognized  as  one 
of  the  first  who  struck  for  the  vindication  of  the 
South."  On  one  of  the  banners  in  a  procession  at 
Washington,  these  brutal  words  were  inscribed, 
"  Sumner  and  Kansas :  let  them  bleed !  " 

On  the  day  subsequent  to  the  assault,  Mr.  Wilson 
called  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  the  circumstance ; 


228  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

and,  a  committee  having  been  appointed,  he,  on  the 
morning  of  the  27th,  while  the  floor  and  galler 
ies  were  crowded  with  anxious  listeners,  rose,  and 
characterized  the  attack  on  Mr.  Sumner  as  "brutal, 
murderous,  and  cowardly."  Mr.  Butler  interrupted 
him;  and  cries  of  "Order!  order!"  rang  through 
the  assembly.  Two  days  later  Mr  Wilson  received 
a  challenge  from  Mr.  Brooks,  and  in  reply  made  use 
of  these  memorable  words:  "I  have  always  re 
garded  duelling  as  the  lingering  relic  of  a  barbarous 
civilization,  which  the  law  of  the  country  has  branded 
as  a  crime."  A  resolution  was  introduced  into  the 
House,  "  that  Preston  S.  Brooks  be,  and  he  is,  forth 
with  expelled  from  this  House  as  a  representative 
from  the  State  of  South  Carolina."  This  resolution 
was  lost  by  a  vote  of  121  to  95. 

Mr.  Brooks  immediately  addressed  the  House  ;  and 
on  closing  said,  "  I  went  to  work  very  deliberately, 
as  I  am  charged,  —  and  this  is  admitted,  —  and  spec 
ulated  somewhat  as  to  whether  I  should  employ  a 
horsewhip  or  a  cowhide ;  but,  knowing  that  the 
senator  was  my  superior  in  strength,  it  occurred  to 
me  that  he  might  wrest  it  from  my  hand,  and  then 
—  for  I  never  attempt  anything  I  do  not  perform  — 
I  might  have  been  compelled  to  do  that  which  I 
would  have  regretted  the  balance  of  my  natural 
life"  [a  voice  was  heard,  "He  would  have  killed 


OF    CHARLES   SUMNER.  229 

him  !  "  ].  And  now,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  announce  to  you 
and  to  this  House,  that  I  am  no  longer  a  member  of 
the  Thirty-fourth  Congress."* 

/Ou  the  21st  of  June  Mr.  Burlingame  made  a 
manly  speech  in  the  House,  during  which,  in  refer 
ence  to  the  assault  he  said,  "  I  denounce  it  in  the 
name  of  the  sovereignty  of  Massachusetts,  which 
was  stricken  down  by  the  blow  ;  I  denounce  it  in  the 
name  of  humanity ;  I  denounce  it  in  the  name  of 
civilization,  which  it  outraged ;  I  denounce  it  in  the 
name  of  that  fair  play  which  even  bullies  and  prize 
fighters  respect.  What !  strike  a  man  when  he  is 
pinioned,  —  when  he  cannot  respond  to  a  blow ! 
Call  you  that  chivalry  ?  In  what  code  of  honor  did 
you  get  your  authority  for  that?  "  Mr.  Brooks  sent 
him  a  challenge,  which  he  accepted,  and  insisted  on 
these  terms :  "  weapons,  rifles ;  distance,  twenty 
paces ;  place,  District  of  Columbia ;  time  of  meet 
ing,  the  next  morning."  Mr.  Campbell,  acting  for 
Mr.  Burlingame,  substituted  the  Clifton  House, 
Canada,  for  the  place  designated ;  and  thus  the  duel 
was  prevented.  The  damage  done  to  Mr.  Sumner's 
system  was  most  serious  and  alarming  ;  and,  had  not 

*  Mr.  Brooks  returned  to  Charleston,  and  was  soon  re-elected  by 
his  constituents  to  Congress.  He  died  miserably  at  Washington, 
Jan.  27,  1857.  Dr.  Boyle,  who  dressed  the  wounds  of  Mr.  Simmer 
in  the  lobby  of  the  Senate-chamber,  attended  him  during  his  last 
illness. 


230  LIFE   AND.  TIMES 

his  frame  and  constitution  been  very  strong  and  vig 
orous,  he  could  not  have  survived  the  assault.  As 
soon  as  he  was  able  to  sit  up,  he  was  removed  to  the 
house  of  his  friend  Francis  P.  Blair,  at  Silver  Spring, 
near  Washington,  where  he  received  the  most  assid 
uous  attention.  He  declined  to  take  any  part  in  the 
action  brought  against  Mr.  Brooks  for  the  assault 
by  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  is  not  known  to 
have  used  any  revengeful  word  respecting  his  -assail 
ant.  On  the  6th  of  June  he  was  able  to  dictate  a 
telegram  to  Boston,  in  regard  to  a  recommendation 
made  by  Gov.  Gardner  to  the  General  Court  to 
assume  the  expense  of  his  illness.  "  Whatever  Mas 
sachusetts  can  give,"  said  he,  "let  it  all  go  to  suffer 
ing  Kansas."  "  That  letter,  and  Mr.  Wilson's  answer 
to  the  challenge,"  wrote  Mrs.  L.  M.  Child,  "have 
revived  my  early  faith  in  human  nature."  Mr. 
Sunnier  also,  on  the  13th,  wrote  a  letter  to  Carlos 
Pierce,  declining  to  receive  a  testimonial  from 
his  friends  in  Boston,  in  approval  of  his  Kansas 
speech,  for  which  subscriptions  to  the  amount  of 
one  thousand  dollars  had  been  made,  and  said  in 
closing,  "I  express  a  desire  that  the  contributions 
intended  for  the  testimonial  to  me  may  be  applied 
at  once,  and  without  abatement  of  any  kind,  to  the 
recovery  and  security  of  freedom  in  Kansas."* 

*  The  testimonial  was  to  have  been  an  elaborate  and  beautiful 
silver  vase  t\vo  feet  in  height,  ornamented  with  the  figure  of  Charles 


OF   CHARLES    STJMNEB.  231 

On  the  21st  of  June,  he  found  strength  sufficient 
to  write  an  encouraging  letter  to  the  Republican 
committee  at  Boston  in  respect  to  the  nomination  of 
J.  C.  Fremont  and  W.  L.  Dayton  at  the  Republican 
National  Convention  held  at  Philadelphia  on  the 
17th  of  the  same  month. 

"  In  this  contest,"  said  he,  "  there  is  every  motive 
to  union,  and  also  every  motive  to  exertion.  '  Now 
or  never  !  now  and  forever  /'  —  such  was  the  ancient 
war-cry,  which,  embroidered  on  the  Irish  flag, 
streamed  from  the  Castle  of  Dublin,  and  resounded 
through  the  whole  island,  arousing  a  generous  people 
to  a  new  struggle  for  ancient  rights ;  and  this  war-cry 
may  be  fitly  inscribed  on  our  standard  now.  Arise 
now,  or  an  inexorable,  slave-driving  tyranny  ivill  be 
fastened  upon  you.  Arise  now,  and  liberty  will  be 
secured  forever  " 

Mr.  Simmer  went  to  Philadelphia  July  9,  and 
thence  to  Cape  May  for  the  benefit  of  the  sea-breeze  ; 
but,  continuing  very  feeb.le,  he  was  advised  by  his 

Sunmer  and  appropriate  devices.  In  a  subsequent  conversation 
with,  his  friend  James  Eedpath,  written  down  at  the  time,  Mr. 
Stunner  spoke  long  and  strongly  against  the  habit  of  public  men 
receiving  gifts.  He  related  an  anecdote  of  the  Russian  prince  who 
paid  into  his  master's  treasury  the  value  of  the  present  he  had 
received  ;  and  remarked  that  he  himself  had  adopted  the  same 
rule.  "  Webster,"  said  he,  "  was  injured  in  consequence  of  receiv 
ing  gifts  from  his  constituents." 


232       LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF   CHARLES    STJMNER. 

physician,  Dr,  Caspar  Wistar,  to  repair  to  Cresson  on 
the  Alleghany  Mountains,  in  Pennsylvania,  where  he 
arrived  on  the  3d  of  August,  and  resided  in  the  fam 
ily,  and  had  the  medical  advice,  of  Dr.  R.  M.  Jack 
son.  In  the  beginning  of  September  he  became 
again  the  guest  of  his  friend  J.  T.  Furness,  Esq.,  in 
Philadelphia,  where  he  remained  till  November,  re 
ceived  many  consolatory  letters^  and  also  dictated 
several  brief  communications,  in  which  he  often  ex 
pressed  his  earnest  solicitude  for  recovery,  that  he 
might  resume  his  public  duties,  and  also  for  the 
wrongs  of  Kansas,  and  the  success  of  the  Republi 
can  party.  But  the  wound  which  he  received  was 
deep. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

The  Reception  of  Mr.  Sumner  at  Boston.  —His  Remarks  on  the  Oc 
casion.  —  His  Health  Precarious.  —  His  Letters  evincing  his  In 
terest  in  Kansas.  —  Re-election  to  the  United-States  Senate.  — 
His  Remarks  thereon.  —  Visits  Europe.  —  He  declines  a  Public 
Dinner  in  Paris.  —  Letter  from  Heidelberg.  —  Anxiety  to  return 
to  his  Official  Duties. —A  Third  Visit  to  Europe.  —  Letter  on 
Leaving.  —  Diagnosis  and  Treatment  of  his  Disease  by  Dr. 
Brown -Sequard. —  Mr  Sumner' s  Fortitude.  — A  Letter  from  Aix 
in  Savoy.  —  Life  at  Montpellier.  —  Return  to  Paris.  —  Visit  to  La 
Grange.  —  Return  to  the  United  States.  —  Progress  of  Events.  — 
Mr.  Sumner  again  in  the  Senate.  —  Sharp  Reply  to  Mr.  Mason.  — 
John  Brown  and  Mr.  Sumner' s  Coat. 

"  Heed  not  what  may  be  your  fate ; 
Count  it  gain  when  worldlings  hate ; 
Naught  of  hope  or  heart  abate : 

Victory's  before. 
Ask  not  that  your  toils  be  o'er 
Till  all  slavery  is  no  more, 

No  more,  no  more,  no  more !  " 

ELIZA  LEE  FOLLEN. 

"  If  our  arms  at  this  distance  cannot  defend  him  from  assassins,  we  confide 
the  defence  of  a  life  so  precious  to  all  honorable  men  and  true  patriots,  to  the 
Almighty  Maker  of  men."  — RALPH  WALDO  EMERSON. 

flOSTON  deeply  felt  the  blow  received  by  Mr. 
Sumner  ;  and  his  reception  by  the   city,  on 
the  third  day  of  November,  was  a  triumph. 
A  cavalcade  numbering  about  eight  hundred  horse- 


234  LIFE    AND   TIMES 

men,  together  with  a  long,  line  of  carriages  and  an 
immense  throng  of  people,  with  enlivening  strains 
of  music,  attended  him  from  Roxbury  to  the 
Capitol. 

Many  of  the  buildings  along  the  line  of  the 
procession  were  decorated  with  festoons,  banners, 
and  appropriate  mottoes,  such  as,  "  Welcome, 
Freedom's  Defender ; "  "  Resistance  to  Tyrants  is 
Obedience  to  God  ;  "  "  Massachusetts  loves,  honors, 
will  sustain  and  defend,  her  noble  SUMNER." 

At  one  point  in  the  ro-ute,  a  large  company  of  ele 
gantly-dressed  young  ladies  with  bouquets  and  wav 
ing  handkerchiefs  bade  him  welcome.  A  vast  con 
course  of  people  awaited  him  in  front  of  the  Capitol, 
where  he  was  received  on  a  platform  erected, for  the 
purpose,  and  presented  in  an  eloquent  speech  by 
Prof.  F.  D.  Huntington  to  Gov.  Henry  J.  Gardner 
and  his  staff. 

To  words  of  generous  welcome  extended  to  him 
by  the  governor,  he  made  a  touching  and  appropri 
ate  reply,  in  the  course  of  which  he  said,  "  My 
soul  overflows,  especially  io  the  young  men  of  Bos 
ton,  out  of  whose  hearts,  as  from  an  exuberant  foun 
tain,  this  broad  hospitality  took  its  rise."  In  refer 
ring  to  his  colleague,  Mr.  Wilson,  he  said,  "It  is 
my  special  happiness  to  recognize  his  unfailing  sym 
pathies  for  myself,  and  his  raanly  assumption  of  all 


OF    CHARLES   SUMNER.  235 

the  responsibilities  of  honor."  His  encomium  on 
Massachusetts  was  remarkable  for  its  truth  and 
beauty.  "  My  filial  love  does  not  claim  too  much," 
said  he,  "  when  it  exhibits  her  as  approaching  the 
pattern  of  a  Christian  commonwealth,  which,  accord 
ing  to  the  great  English  republican,  John  Milton, 
'  ought  to  be  but  as  one  huge  Christian  personage,  one 
mighty  growth  and  stature  of  an  honest  man,  as  big 
and  compact  in  virtue  as  in  body.'  Not  through  any 
worldly  triumphs,  not  through  the  vaults  of  State 
Street,  the  spindles  of  Lowell,  or  even  the  learned 
endowments  of  Cambridge,  is  Massachusetts  thus; 
but  because,  seeking  to  extend  everywhere  within 
the  sphere  of  her  influence  the  benign  civilization 
which  she  cultivates  at  home,  she  stands  forth  the 
faithful,  unseduced  supporter  of  "human  nature." 

44  Terrestrial  place,"  he  beautifully  said,  in  closing, 
"  is  determined  by  celestial  observation.  Only  by 
watching  the  stars  can  the  mariner  safely  pursue  his 
course  ;  and  it  is  only  by  obeying  these  lofty  princi 
ples  which  are  above  men  and  human  passion,  that 
we  can  make  our  way  safely  through  the  duties  of 
life.  In  such  obedience  I  hope  to  live,  while,  as  a 
servant  of  Massachusetts,  I  avoid  no  labor,  shrink 
from  no  exposure,  and  complain  of  no  hardship." 

Mr.  Sumner  was  then  escorted  to  his  home  in  Han 
cock  Street,  which  was  surrounded  by  a  dense  crowd 


236  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

of  people,  who  rent  the  air  with  enthusiastic  acclama 
tions.  With  his  widowed  mother  he  appeared  at  the 
parlor  window,  and  was  again  received  with  cheers 
of  parting,  when  the  multitude  retired,  and  he  him 
self  sought  that  repose  which  his  feeble  system,  after 
the  demonstrations  of  the  day,  demanded. 

His  injuries  from  the  assault  of  Mr.  Brooks  were 
much  more  serious  than  he  at  first  anticipated.  For 
several  months  he  remained  at  home,  under  the  treat 
ment  of  Dr.  Marshall  S.  Perry,  and  the  unremitting 
care  of  his  affectionate  mother.  He  found,  however, 
strength  to  dictate  several  letters,  referring  mostly  to 
the  interests  of  the  Republican  party  and  of  suffering 
Kansas.  On  the  17th  of  November,  for  instance,  he 
wrote  a  letter  to  M.  F.  Conway,  to  the  effect  that 
State  legislatures  should  contribute  to  sustain  the 
cause  of  liberty  in  Kansas,  which,  with  a  letter  from 
Mr.  Wilson  to  the  governor  of  Vermont,  was  in  a 
great  measure  instrumental  in  securing  an  appropria 
tion  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  from  that  State.  On 
the  24th  of  the  same  month,  to  a  committee  in 
Worcester,  and  in  reference  to  the  recent  Republican 
victories,  he  said,  "  All  New  England,  with  New 
York,  Ohio,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Iowa,  consti 
tute  an  irresistible  phalanx  for  freedom,  while  our 
seeming  reverse  in  our  Presidential  election  is  only 
another  Bunker  Hill."  In  a  letter,  dated  Hancock 


OF   CHARLES    SUMNER.  237 

Street,  Jan.  10,  1857,  to  his  friend  James  Redpath, 
Esq.,  who  was  heroically  laboring  on  behalf  of  free 
dom  in  Kansas,  he  said,  "  I  cannot  believe  that  Mas 
sachusetts  will  hesitate.  Her  people  have  already 
opened  their  hearts  to  Kansas  ;  and  the  public  treas 
ury  should  be  opened  as  wide  as  their  hearts." 

On  the  thirteenth  day  of  January,  1857,  he  was 
almost  unanimously  re-elected  to  another  six-years 
term  of  office ;  the  Senate  casting  for  him  every 
vote ;  the  house  having  already  given  him  333  out 
of  the  345  votes  thrown. 

"  It  is  not  too  much  to  say,"  justly  remarked  "The 
New- York  Tribune,"  "  that  Mr.  Sumner  is  at  this 
moment  the  most  popular  man  in  the  State,  the  opin 
ions  of  which  he  so  truly  represents."  In  his  accept 
ance  of  the  trust,  Jan.  22,  Mr.  Sumner  said,  "Alike 
by  sympathy  with  the  slave,  and  by  determination  to 
save  ourselves  from  wretched  thraldom,  we  are  all 
summoned  to  the  effort  now  organized  for  the  eman 
cipation  of  the  national  government  from  a  degrad 
ing  influence,  hostile  to  civilization,  which,  whenever 
it  shows  itself  even  at  a  distance,  is  brutal,  vulgar,  and 
mean ; '  an  unnatural  tyranny,  calculated  to  arouse 
the  generous  indignation  of  good  men.  Of  course 
no  person,  unless  ready  to  say  in  his  heart  that  there 
is  no  God,  can  doubt  the  certain  result."  His  health 
continuing  to  decline,  he  was  advised  by  his  physi- 


238  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

cians  to  seek  relief  abroad ;  and  early  in  March  fol 
lowing  he  took  passage  in  the  steamship  "  Fulton,"  at 
New  York,  for  Havre.  His  last  word  before  sailing 
was  on  behalf  of  that  fair  territory  where  the  friends 
and  the  foes  of  the  freedom  of  the  colored  race  were 
in  conflict. 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Redpath,  dated  on  board  "  The 
Fulton,"  March  7,  1857,  he  said,  "  Do  any  sigh  for  a 
Thermopylae  ?  They  have  it  in  Kansas  ;  for  there  is 
to  be  fought  the  great  battle  between  freedom  and 
slavery,  by  the  ballot-box  I  trust ;  but  I  do  not  for 
get  that  all  who  destroy  the  ballot-box  madly  invoke 
the  cartridge-box.  With  a  farewell  to  my  country 
as  I  seek  a  foreign  land  for  health  long  deferred,  I 
give  my  best  thoughts  to  suffering  Kansas,  with  de 
vout  prayers  that  the  usurpation  which  now  treads 
her  down  may  be  proudly  overthrown,  and  that  she 
may  be  lifted  into  the  enjoyment  of  freedom  and  re 
pose." 

Soon  after  his  arrival  at  Paris,  a  public  dinner  was 
tendered  him  (April  28)  by  the  American  merchants 
residing  in  that  city ;  and  in  his  letter  deciding,  on 
account  of  the  state  of  his  health,  not  to  accept  the 
honor,  occurs  this  elegant  paragraph  :  — 

"  Pardon  the  allusion,  when  I  add  that  you  are  the 
daily  industrious  workmen  in  that  mighty  loom 
whose  frame  stands  on  the  coasts  of  opposite  conti- 


OF   CHARLES   STTMNEK.  239 

nents,  whose  threads  are  Atlantic  voyages,  whose 
colors  are  the  various  enterprises  and  activities  of  a 
beneficent  commerce,  and  whose  well-wrought  prod 
uct  is  a  radiant,  speaking  tissue  —  more  beautiful  to 
the  mind's  eye  than  any  fabric  of  rarest  French  skill, 
more  marvellous  than  any  tapestry  woven  for  kings  — 
where  every  color  mingles  with  every  thread,  in  com 
pleted  harmony  and  on  the  grandest  scale,  to  display 
the  triumphs  and  the  blessings  of  peace." 

Still  battling  manfully  with  his  disease,  Mr.  Sum- 
ner  visited  various  parts  of  Europe  during  the  sum 
mer.  His  line  of  travel  may  be  seen  by  the  following 
letter,  dated  Heidelberg,  Sept.  11,  1857.  "  I  have 
been  ransacking  Switzerland  :  I  have  visited  most 'of 
its  lakes,  and  crossed  several  of  its  mountains,  mule- 
back.  My  strength  has  not  allowed  me  to  venture 
upon  any  of  those  foot  expeditions,  the  charm  of 
Swiss  travel,  by  which  you  reach  places  out  of  the 
way ;  but  I  have  seen  much,  and  have  gained  health 
constantly. 

"  I  have  crossed  the  Alps  by  the  St.  Gothard,  and 
then  recrossed  by  the  grand  St.  Bernard,  passing  a 
night  with  the  monks  and  dogs.  I  have  spent  a  day 
at  the  foot  of  Mont  Blanc,  and  another  on  the  won 
derful  Lake  Leman.  I  have  been  in  the  Pyrenees,  in 
the  Alps,  in  the  Channel  Isles.  You  will  next  hear 
of  me  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland." 


240  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

While  in  Edinburgh  he  made  the  acquaintance  of 
George  Combe,  Esq.,  the  distinguished  phrenologist, 
who  endeavored  to  dissuade  him  from  an  early  re 
turn  to  public  duties.  Yet  his  anxiety  to  lend  his 
aid  to  that  heroic  band  of  patriots  who  were  strug 
gling  to  resist  the  encroachments  of  the  slave  propa 
gandists,  induced  him  to  return  to  his  seat  in 
Congress,  which  he  resumed  at  the  opening  of  the  ses 
sion  in  December.  His  health  was,  however,  so  much 
impaired,  that  he  could  only  attend  to  some  minor 
points  of  business,  and  vote  on  important  questions 
coming  before  the  Senate.  Finding  no  permanent 
relief,  he  was  constrained  again  to  leave  the  country ; 
and  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  May,  1858,  he  took 
passage  at  New  York,  by  the  steamship  "Vanderbilt" 
for  Havre.  In  a  letter,  dated  on  board  "  The  Vander- 
bilt,"  May  22,  1858,  to  the  people  of  Massachusetts, 
who  deeply  sympathized  with  him  in  his  continued 
sufferings,  he  made  this  touching  allusion :  "I  was 
often  assured  and  encouraged  to  feel  that  to  every 
sincere  lover  of  civilization  my  vacant  chair  was  a 
perpetual  speech. "  It  was  a  perpetual  speech, 
which  moved,  as  no  words  could  have  done,  the  na 
tional  heart  to  sympathize  with  those  in  bondage. 

In  Paris  he  came  under  the  treatment  of  the  emi 
nent  physician  Dr.  Brown-Soquard,  who,  when  his 
patient  asked  what  was  to  be  the  remedy,  replied, 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  241 

"  Fire."  "  When  can  you  apply  it  ?  "  said  Mr.  Sum- 
ner.  "  To-morrow,  if  you  please,"  answered  the 
doctor.  "  Why  not  this  afternoon  ?  "  continued  the 
other  ;  and  that  afternoon  it  was  done  by  the  moxaf 
and  afterwards  repeated,  without  the  use  of  chloro 
form.  The  diagnosis  and  the  treatment  of  this  case 
are,  on  account  of  their  unusual  interest,  here  given 
in  the  words  of  this  distinguished  physiologist  and 
practitioner  as  presented  by  him  in  a  public  lec 
ture  :  — 

"  When,  in -1857,  I  saw  Mr.  Charles  Sumner  for  the  first  time, 
he  presented  to  me  at  once  symptoms  which  I  could  not  but 
recognize  as  dependent  upon  an  irritation  of  some  fibres  of 
a  sympathetic  nerve,  and  a  paralysis  of  others.  As  you  know, 
he  received  a  terrible  blow  upon  the  head.  His  spine  as 
he  was  sitting  had  been  bent  in  two  places,  the  cranium  for 
tunately  resisting.  This  bending  of  the  spine  in  two  places 
had  produced  there  the  effects  of  a  sprain.  When  I  saw  him 
in  Paris  he  had  recovered  altogether  from  the  first  effects  of  the 
blow.  He  suffered  only  from  the  two  sprains  of  the  spine,  and 
perhaps  a  slight  irritation  of  the  spinal  cord  itself.  Pie  had 
two  troubles  at  that  time.  One  was  that  he  could  not  make 
use  of  his  brain  at  all.  He  could  not  read  a  newspaper,  could 
not  write  a  letter.  He  was  in  a  frightful  state  as  regards  the 
activity  of  the  mind,  as  every  effort  there  was  most  painful  to 
him.  It  seemed  to  him  at  times  as  if  his  head  would  burst : 
there  seemed  to  be  some  great  force  within  pushing  the  pieces 


*  A  substance  used  as  a  counter-irritant  by  gradual  combustion 
on  the  skiu. 

11 


242  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

away  from  one  another.  Any  emotion  was  painful  to  him. 
Even  in  conversation,  any  thing  that  called  for  depth  of 
thought  or  feeling  caused  him  suffering,  so  that  we  had  to  be 
very  careful  with  him.  lie  had  another  trouble,  resulting  from 
the  sprain  which  was  at  the  level  of  the  lowest  dorsal  vertebra. 
The  irritation  produced  was  intense,  and  the  result  very  pain 
ful.  When  he  tried  to  move  forward,  he  was  compelled  to 
push  one  foot  slowly  and  gently  forward  but  a  few  inches,  and 
then  drag  the  other  foot  to  a  level  with  the  first,  holding  his 
back  at  the  same  time  to  diminish  the  pain  that  he  had  there. 
It  had  been  thought  that  he  was  paralyzed  in  the  lower 
limbs,  and  that  he  had  disease  of  the  brain ;  and  the  disease  of 
the  brain  was  construed  as  being  the  cause  of  this  paralysis  of 
the  lower  limbs. 

"  Fortunately,  the  discovery  made  of  what  we  call  the  vasa- 
motor  nervous  system  led  me  at  once  to  the  conclusion  that  he 
had  no  disease  of  the  brain,  and  had  no  paralysis  :  he  had 
only  an  irritation  of  those  vasa-motor  nerves,  resulting  from 
the  upper  sprain  in  the  spine.  That  irritation  was  the  cause  of 
the  whole  mischief  as  regards  the  function  of  the  brain.  The 
other  sprain  caused  the  pain  which  gave  the  appearance  of  par 
alysis.  When  I  asked  him  if  he  was  conscious  of  any  weak 
ness  in  his  lower  limbs,  he  said,  '  Certainly  not :  I  have  never 
understood  that  my  physicians  considered  me  paralyzed.  I 
only  cannot  walk  on  account  of  the  pain.' 

"  What  was  to  be  done  was  to  apply  counter-irritants  to  those 
two  sprains.  That  was  done.  I  told  him  that  the  best  plan 
of  treatment  would  consist  in  the  application  of  moxas,  and 
that  they  produced  the  most  painful  kind  of  irritation  of  the 
skin  that  we  knew.  I  urged  him  then  to  allow  me  to  give  him 
chloroform,  to  diminish  the  pain,  if  not  take  it  away  altogether. 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  243 

I  well  remember  his  impressive  accent  when  he  replied,  *  If 
you  can  say  positively  that  I  shall  derive  as  much  benefit  if  I 
take  chloroform  as  if  I  do  not,  then  of  course  I  will  take  it ; 
but  if  there  is  to  be  any  degree  whatever  of  amelioration  in 
case  I  do  not  take  it,  then  I  shall  not  take  it.' 

"  I  did  not  find  courage  enough  to  deceive  him.  I  told  him 
the  truth,  —  that  there  would  be  more  effect,  as  I  thought,  if  he 
did  not  take  chloroform  ;  and  so  I  had  to  submit  him  to  the 
martyrdom  of  the  greatest  suffering  that  can  be  inflicted  on 
mortal  man.  I  burned  him  with  the  first  moxa.  I  had  the 
hope  that  after  the  first  application  he  would  submit  to 
the  use  of  chloroform ;  but  for  five  times  after  that  he  was 
burned  in  the  same  way,  and  refused  to  take  chloroform,  i 
have  never  seen  a  patient  who  submitted  to  such  treatment 
in  that  way. 

"  I  cannot  conceive  that  it  was  from  mere  heroism  that  he 
did  it.  The  real  explanation  was  this :  Heaps  of  abuse  had 
been  thrown  upon  him.  He  was  considered  as  amusing  him 
self  in  Paris,  as  pretending  to  be  ill.  In  fact,  he  wanted  to 
get  well  and  go  home  as  quickly  as  possible.  A  few  days  were 
of  great  importance  to  him.  \_And)so  he  passed  through  that 
terrible  suffering,  the  greatest  that  I  have  ever  inflicted  upon 
any  being,  be  it  man  or  animal. 

"  I  mention  this  only  to  show  what  the  man  was  ;  and  I  shall 
only  add,  that,  since  that,  I  have  always  found  him  ready  to  sub 
mit  to  any  thing  for  the  sake  of  what  he  thought  to  be  right  j 
and  in  other  spheres  you  know  that  such  was  his  character." 
[Applause.] 

At  this  point  Dr.  Brown-Sequard  was  so  much  af 
fected,  that  he  found  himself-  unable  to  proceed,  and 


244  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

so  stopped  the  lecture,  after  having  spoken  one-half 
of  the  usual  time. 

While  undergoing  the  painful  treatment  of  his  phy 
sicians,  Mr.  Sumner  found  .some  alleviation  to  his 
sufferings  by  continuing  the  study  of  engravings  ic 
the  cabinets  of  Paris.  In  the  latter  part  of  August 
he  visited  Aix  in  Savoy,  long  noted  for  its  thermal 
waters  and  healthful  atmosphere.  In  a  letter  to  a 
friend,  dated  at  this  place,  Sept.  11, 1858,  he  describes 
his  mode  of  life  and  his  anxieties :  — 

"My  life  is  devoted  to  health.  I  wish  that  I 
could  say  that  I  am  not  still  an  invalid ;  yet,  except 
when  attacked  by  the  pain  on  my  chest,  I  am  now 
comfortable,  and  enjoy  my  baths,  my  walks,  and  the 
repose  and  incognito  which  I  find  here.  I  begin 
the  day  with  douches  hot  and  cold,  and  when  thor 
oughly  exhausted  am  wrapped  in  sheet  and  blanket, 
and  conveyed  to  my  hotel,  and  laid  on  my  bed. 
After  my  walk,  I  find  myself  obliged  again  to  take 
to  my  bed  for  two  hours  before  dinner.  But  this 
whole  treatment  is  in  pleasant  contrast  with  the 
protracted  suffering  from  fire  which  made  the  sum 
mer  a  torment;  and  yet  I  fear  that  I  must  return 
to  that  treatment. 

"  It  is  with  a  pang  unspeakable,  that  I  find  myself 
thus  arrested  in  the  labors  of  life  and  in  the  duties 
of  my  position.  This  is  harder  to  bear  than  the  fire. 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  245 

I  do  not  hear  of  friends  engaged  in  active  service,  — 
like  Trumbull  in  Illinois,  —  without  a  feeling  of 
envy." 

From  Savoy  he  went  through  Switzerland  vid  Mi- 
Ian  to  Venice,  but  was  too  great  an  invalid  to  derive 
much  pleasure  from  visiting  the  Ducal  Palace  or  the 
far-famed  Rialto.  He  returned  to  Paris  in  Novem 
ber  by  the  way  of  Vienna,  Berlin,  and  Munich. 
By  the  advice  of  Dr.  Brown-Se'quard,  he  now  aban 
doned  his  cherished  purpose  of  returning  home,  and 
repaired  to  the  ancient  city  of  Montpellier,  near 
the  Mediterranean  Sea,  distinguished  alike  for  the 
brilliancy  of  its  atmosphere,  and  the  richness  of  its 
scenery.  Here  he  passed  the  winter  months  in  read 
ing,  in  attending  the  lectures  at  the  college,  and  in 
using  means  for  the  restoration  of  his  health.  These 
were  so  far  effectual,  that  he  was  able  again  to  visit 
Italy  in  the  spring.  Returning  thence  to  Paris,  he 
still  found  the  state  of  his  health  improving.  Here 
he  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  his  friend  Theodore 
Parker,  an  invalid  on  his  way  to  Italy  (where  he 
died  May  10,  1860),  and  of  learning  that  the  degree 
of  LL.D.  had  been  conferred  on  him  by  Harvard 
University. 

Spending  the  month  of  August  in  Havre  for  the 
benefit  of  sea-bathing,  Mr.  Sumner  returned  to  Paris 
in  the  autumn  almost  entirely  well ;  and  with  exqui- 


246  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

site  pleasure  visited  La  Grange,  the  country  home  of 
Lafayette,  whose  noble  character  and  public  services 
he  held  in  great  admiration.  In  his  grand  address 
on  "  Lafayette,  the  Faithful  One,"  at  Cooper  Insti 
tute,  New  York,  Nov.  30,  1860,  he  thus  spoke  of  his 
excursion  and  the  place :  — 

"  On  a  clear  and  lovely  day  of  October,  in  com 
pany  with  a  friend,  I  visited  this  famous  seat,  which 
at  once  reminded  me  of  the  prints  of  it  so  common 
at  shop-windows  in  my  childhood.  It  is  a  picturesque 
and  venerable  castle,  —  with  five  round  towers,  a 
moat,  a  drawbridge,  an  arched  gateway,  ivy-clad 
walls,  and  a  large  court-yard  within,  —  embosomed  in 
trees,  except  on  one  side,  where  a  beautiful  lawn 
spreads  its  verdure.  Every  thing  speaks  to  us.  The 
castle  itself  is  of  immemorial  antiquity,  —  supposed  to 
have  been  built  in  the  earliest  days  of  the  French 
monarchy,  as  far  back  as  Louis  le  Gros.  It  had  been 
tenanted  by  princes  of  Lorraine,  and  been  battered 
by  the  cannon  of  Turenne,  one  of  whose  balls  pene 
trated  its  thick  masonry.  The  ivy,  so  luxuriantly 
mantling  the  gate  with  the  tower  by  its  side,  was 
planted  by  the  eminent  British  statesman  Charles 
Fox,  on  a  visit  during  the  brief  peace  of  Amiens. 
The  park  owed  much  of  its  beauty  to  Lafayette  him 
self.  The  situation  harmonized  with  the  retired 
habits  which  found  shelter  there  from  the  storms  of 
fortune." 


OF  CHARLES  STJMNER.  247 

During  his  long  absence  from  the  Senate  and  the 
country,  the  impending  crisis  to  which  he  had  so 
distinctly  and  so  often  pointed  was  steadily  approach 
ing.  Under  the  timid  and  imbecile  administration 
o:  James  Buchanan  (inaugurated  March  4,  1857), 
tie  South  continued  to  make  desperate  efforts  to  ex- 
tdnd  the  realm  of  human  servitude ;  and  Northern 
politicians,  fearful  of  the  dismemberment  of  the 
Jnion,  but  too  often  tamely  yielded  to  the  arrogant 
assumptions  of  the  slaveholding  congressmen.  But 
more  and  more  enlightened  by  the  eloquent  speeches 
of  such  advocates  of  freedom  as  Wendell  Phillips, 
Henry  Wilson,  William  H.  Seward,  and  Joshua  R. 
Giddings  ;  by  the  pulpit,  which  now  spoke  out  fear 
lessly  ;  and  by  the  public  press,  especially  by  "  The 
Liberator"  and  "The  New- York  Tribune,"  —  the 
people  came  to  entertain  profouiider  convictions  of 
the  inhumanity  of  the  servile  system,  of  its  antago 
nism  to  free  labor,  free  speech,  to  social  and  civil  pro 
gress,  and  also  of  the  tremendous  interests  at  stake. 
The  Republican  party  had  therefore  steadily  increased 
in  strength,  and  now,  embracing  every  anti-slavery 
element,  presented  an  unbroken  front  in  opposition 
to  the  Southern  domination.  In  various  sections, 
North  and  West,  it  had  elected  senators  and  repre 
sentatives  to  Congress,  in  whose  halls  debates  011 
almost  every  question  still  continued  to  assume  a 


248  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

more  decided  partisan  character.  Freedom  ard 
slavery  had  come  to  the  death-grapple.  "  Let  as 
call  our  system  an  unmixed  good,"  exclaimed  a 
Southern  member,  "  and  stake  our  money  and  oir 
lives  in  its  defence  ! "  "  It  is  an  unmitigated  evil," 
replied  the  North :  "  thus  far  shall  it  come,  no  far 
ther."  As  the  advocates  of  slavery  saw  the  strengtii 
of  the  Republican  party  (which  now  had  nearly 
twenty  members  in  the  Senate)  rising,  it  held  with 
more  tenacity  its  ground,  and  more  obstinately  strove 
ta  render  the  administrative,  the  judicial,  and  the 
legislative  power  subservient  to  its  control.  With 
less  parade,  less  demonstration,  than  upon  the  field 
of  action  afterwards,  but  with  no  less  intrepidity  and 
decision,  the  war  was  raging,  and  the  battle  for 
dominion  rolling  on. 

The  raid  of  Capt.  John  Brown,*  which  was  an  at- 

*  John  Brown,  with  about  twenty  followers,  under  the  impression 
that  the  slaves  would  unite  in  the  movement,  surprised  Harper's 
Ferry  on  the  night  of  the  20th  of  October,  1859,  and  took  the  arsenal, 
armory,  and  about  forty  prisoners.  On  the  day  following,  two  sons 
and  nearly  all  his  men  were  killed,  and  he  himself,  after  receiving 
several  wounds,  was  captured.  He  was  tried  in  November,  sentenced 
to  death,  and  executed.  He  acted  conscientiously,  and  evinced  the 
heroism  of  an  old  martyr.  His  life  was  written  by  James  Redpath, 
I860.  John  Brown,  as  well  as  Mr.  Simmer,  was  remarkable  for  his 
height ;  and,  on  being  asked  by  the  latter  if  he  ever  intended  to  live 
in  Kansas,  he  replied,  "No,  unless  I  happened  to  find  my  last  home 
there."  "  In  that  case,"  returned  Mr.  Sumner,  "  yours,  like  mine, 
would  be  a  long  home." 


OF  CHARLES   STJMNEH.  249 

tempt,  made  in  the  autumn  of  1859,  to  liberate  the 
slaves  of  Virginia,  had  greatly  exasperated  the 
South ;  and  on  the  day  in  which  Mr.  Sumner  again 
took  his  seat  in  the  Senate  (December  5),  a  committee 
was  appointed  "  to  inquire  into  the  facts  attending  the 
late  invasion."  This  committee  introduced  a  resolu 
tion  compelling  Thaddeus  Hyatt  to  testify  in  regard 
to  this  affair  before  the  Senate  ;  and  on  the  question 
of  its  passage,  March  12,  1860,  Mr.  Sumner  made  a 
brief  but  able  speech,  in  which  he  clearly  showed 
that  that  body  had  no  power  to  imprison  a  citizen. 
The  resolutions,  however,  were  adopted  on  the  12th 
of  March,  when  Mr.  Hyatt  was  committed  to  jail. 
During  his  imprisonment  he  was  frequently  visited 
by  Mr.  Sumner,  who  found  the  jail  "  neither  more 
nor  less,"  as  he  observed,  "  than  a  mere  human  sty ; " 
and  this  led  to  a  resolution  "  to  improve  the  con 
dition  of  the  common  jail  of  the  city  of  Washing 
ton."  On  the  10th  of  April  he  presented  the 
memorial  of  Frank  B.  Sanborn,  a  teacher  of  Concord, 
Mass.,  whom  certain  agents  of  the  slaveocracy,  under 
the  pretence  that  he  had  been  in  complicity  with 
John  Brown,  had  on  the  3d  of  April  attempted  to 
kidnap,  but  who  was  rescued  by  his  neighbors  and  the 
deputy  sheriff  with  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  On  the 
16th  of  April,  Mr.  Mason  of  Virginia  moved  that 


250  LIFE   AND  TIMES 

the  memorial  be  rejected;  and  in  his  remarks 
thereon  Mr.  Sumner  made  use  of  this  severe  com 
parison  :  — 

"  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  establish  a  precedent  also 
in  this  case,  by  entering  an  open,  unequivocal  protest 
against  such  an  attempt.  Sir,  an  ancient  poet  said 
of.  a  judge  in  hell,  that  he  punished  first,  and  heard 
afterwards  (Beastly atque  auditque) ;  and  permit  me 
to  say,  the  senator  from  Virginia  on  this  occasion 
takes  a  precedent  from  that  court." 

Mr.  Sumner  undoubtedly  sympathized  with  John 
Brown  in  respect  to  the  ends  he  had  in  view,  but 
did  not  agree  with  him  as  to  the  means  employed 
for  securing  them.  "  I  once,"  says  James  Redpath, 
"  visited  Senator  Sumner  in  the  company  of  John 
Brown.  We  spoke  of  the  assault  of  P.  S.  Brooks, 
under  which  Mr.  Surnner  was  suffering.  Capt. 
Brown  then  suddenly  said,  '  Have  you  still  the 
coat  ?  '  '  Yes,'  replied  Mr.  Sumner  :  'it  is  in  that 
closet.  Would  you  like  to  see  it  ?  '  '  Very  much 
indeed,'  returned  the  captain.  Mr.  Sumner  then, 
rising  slowly  and  painfully  from  his  bed,  opened  a 
closet-door,  and  handed  the  garment  to  the  old  hero. 
The  scene  was  striking.  Mr.  Sumner  was  bending 
slightly,  and  supporting  himself  by  resting  his  hand 
upon  the  bed,  while  Capt.  Brown  stood  erect  as  a 


OP  CHARLES   SUMNER.  251 

pillar,  holding  up  the  blood-besmeared  coat,  and  in 
tently  scanning  it.  The  old  man  said  nothing ;  but 
his  lips  were  compressed,  and  his  eyes  shone  like 
polished  steel." 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

Mr.  Sumner  Represents  the  Spirit  of  the  North.  —  "The  Crime 
against  Kansas."  — Exordium.  — Analysis  of  the  Speech.  — Slave 
Masters.  — Freedom  of  Speech.  —  "William  Lloyd  Garrison.  —  By 
Nature  every  Man  is  Free.  —  Property  in  Man  not  recognized  by 
the  Constitution. —Closing  Words.  — Remarks  of  Mr.  Chestnut. 
—  Mr.  Sumner' s  Reply.  — Reception  of  his  Speech  by  the  Public 
Press. —The  Opinion  of  S.  P.  Chase.  — Of  Carl  Schurz.  —  Of  N. 
Hall.  —  Personal  Violence  attempted.  —  A  Body-Guard.  —  Reso 
lutions  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature.  —  Nomination  of  the 
Presidential  Candidates,  1860.  —Mr. Sumner's  Speeches  at  Cooper 
Institute,  Worcester,  and  other  Places. 

"  No  skill  had  he  with  veering  winds  to  veer; 
By  trampling  on  the  good,  himself  to  rise ; 
To  run  for  any  port,  indifferent  where, 
So  tongue  and  conscience  make  fair  merchandise." 

W.  W.  NEWELL. 

Spirit!  piu  nobili  del  suo,  io  non  ne  avea  mai  conosciuti,  pari  al  suo,  pochi." 

Le  Mie  Prigione  di  SILVIO  PELLICO. 

"  Such  earnest  natures  are  the  fiery  pith, 

The  compact  nucleus,  round  which  systems  grow; 
Mass  after  mass  becomes  inspired  therewith, 
And  whirls  impregnate  with  the  central  glow." 

ILTHOUGH  Mr.  Sumner   attended  to  some 
minor  senatorial  duties,  and  watched  with  an 
eagle   eye  the   logic  of   events,  it  was  not 
until-  the   fourth  day  of   June,  1860,  that  he  came 

252 


CHARLES  SUMNEB.  253 

grandly  up  to  the  work  on  hand,  and  showed  the 
country  that  Richard  was  on  his  feet  again.  On  the 
Bill  for  the  Admission  of  Kansas  as  a  Free  State, 
then  before  the  Senate,  he  made  one  of  the  most 
masterly  speeches  of  his  life,  sending  broadside  after 
broadside  of  solid  shot  into  the  strongholds  of 
slavery,  and  utterly  demolishing  every  defence  and 
fortress  of  its  partisans.  He  had  the  learning,  the 
statesmanship,  the  eloquence,  the  heroism,  the 
brutum  fulmen,  which  the  exigence  demanded ;  and 
with  Titanic  force  he  stood  forth,  mailed  in  the 
armor  of  truth,  as  the  best  representative  of  the 
spirit  of  a  free  people,  and  as  the  strongest  champion 
living  of  the  inalienable  rights  of  the  colored  race. 
The  rising  of  Mr.  Sumner  in  that  seat  where  he  had 
four  years  previously  been  stricken  down  by  the 
hand  of  violence,  to  pronounce  again,  in  front  of  a 
vindictive  power,  the  doom  of  slavery,  was  a  spec 
tacle  of  moral  grandeur  such  as  when  the  dauntless 
Mirabeau  at  the  point  of  bayonet  rose,  in  1789,  to 
vindicate  the  Third-Estate  in  the  presence  of  the 
French  Assembly.  In  allusion  to  the  solemnity  of 
the  occasion,  and  the  death  of  Mr.  Butler  and  of  Mr. 
Brooks,  he  said  :  — 

"Mr.  PRESIDENT,  —  Undertaking  now,  after  a  silence  of 
more  than  four  years,  to  address  the  Senate  on  this  important 
subject,  I  should  suppress  the  emotions  natural  to  such  an 


254  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

occasion,  if  I  did  not  declare  on  the  threshold  my  gratitude  to 
that  supreme  Being  through  whose  benign  care  I  am  enabled, 
after  much  suffering  and  many  changes,  once  again  to  resume 
my  duties  here,  and  to  speak  for  the  cause  which  is  so  near  my 
heart.  To  the  honored  Commonwealth  whose  representative  I 
am,  and  also  to  my  immediate  associates  in  this  body,  with 
whom  I  enjoy  the  fellowship  which  is  found  in  thinking  alike 
concerning  the  Republic,  I  owe  thanks  which  I  seize  this  moment 
to  express,  for  the  indulgence  shown  me  throughout  the  pro 
tracted  seclusion  enjoined  by  medical  skill ;  and  I  trust  that  it 
will  not  be  thought  unbecoming  in  me  to  put  on  record  here, 
as  an  apology  for  leaving  my  seat  so  long  vacant,  without 
making  way,  by  resignation,  for  a  successor,  that  I  acted  under 
the  illusion  of  an  invalid,  whose  hopes  for  restoration  to  bis 
natural  health  constantly  triumphed  over  his  disappointments. 
"  When  last  I  entered  into  this  debate,  it  became  my  duty 
to  expose  the  crime  against  Kansas,  and  to  insist  upon  the 
immediate  admission  of  that  Territory  as  a  State  of  this 
Union,  with  a  constitution  forbidding  slavery.  Time  has 
passed;  but  the  question  remains.  Resuming  the  discussion 
precisely  where  I  left  it,  I  am  happy  to  avow  that  rule  of 
moderation,  which,  it  is  said,  may  venture  even  to  fix  the 
boundaries  of  wisdom  itself.  I  have  no  personal  griefs  to 
utter :  only  a  barbarous  egotism  could  intrude  these  into  this 
chamber.  I  have  no  personal  wrongs  to  avenge :  only  a  barbar 
ous  nature  could  attempt  to  wield  that  vengeance  which 
belongs  to  the  Lord.  The  years  that  have  intervened  and  the 
tombs  that  have  been  opened  since  I  spoke  have  their  voices 
too,  which  I  cannot  fail  to  hear.  Besides,  what  am  I  ?  —  what 
is  any  man  among  the  living  or  among  the  dead,  —  compared 
with  the  question  now  before  us  ?  It  is  this  alone  which  i 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  255 

shall  discuss ;  and  I  open  the  argument  with  that  easy  victory 
which  is  found  in  charity." 

Mr.  Sumner  entitled  his  Speech  "  The  Crime 
against  Kansas ;  "  and  he  thus  indicated  the  manner 
in  which  it  was  to  be  discussed  :  — 

"  Motive  is  to  crime  as  soul  to  body ;  and  it  is  only  when  we 
comprehend  the  motive,  that  we  can  truly  comprehend  the 
crime.  Here,  the  motive  is  found  in  slavery  and  the  rage  for 
its  extension.  Therefore,  by  logical  necessity,  must  slavery  be 
discussed ;  not  indirectly,  timidly,  and  sparingly,  but  directly, 
openly,  and  thoroughly.  It  must  be  exhibited  as  it  is,  alike 
in  its  influence  and  in  its  animating  character,  so  that  not  only 
its  outside  but  its  inside  may  be  seen. 

This  is  no  time  for  soft  words  or  excuses.  All  such  are  out 
of  place.  They  may  turn  away  wrath ;  but  what  is  the  wrath 
of  man?  This  is  no  time  to  abandon  any  advantage  in  the 
argument.  Senators  sometimes  announce  that  they  resist 
slavery  on  political  grounds  only,  and  remind  us  that  they  say 
nothing  of  the  moral  question.  This  is  wrong.  Slavery  must 
be  resisted  not  only  on  political  grounds,  but  on  all  other 
grounds,  whether  social,  economical,  or  moral.  Ours  is  no 
holiday  contest ;  nor  is  it  any  strife  of  rival  factions,  —  of  White 
and  Red  Roses,  of  theatric  Neri  and  Bianchi :  but  it  is  a 
solemn  battle  between  right  and  wrong,  between  good  and 
evil.  Such  a  battle  cannot  be  fought  with  excuses  or  with 
rosewater.  There  is  austere  work  to  be  done ;  and  Freedom 
cannot  consent  to  fling  away  any  of  her  weapons." 

His  weapons  were  directed  against  the  claims  put 
forth  especially  by  Mr.  Davis :  first,  that  slavery  is  a 


256  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

form  of  civilization;  and  second,  that  property  in 
man  is  placed  beyond  the  reach  of  Congressional 
prohibition.  To  the  first  said  he,  — 

"  I  oppose  the  essential  barbarism  of  slavery,  in  all  its  in 
fluences,  whether  high  or  low,  as  Satan  is  Satan  still,  whether 
towering  in  the  sky,  or  squatting  in  the  toad.  To  the  second  I 
oppose  the  unanswerable,  irresistible  truth,  that  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States  nowhere  recognizes  property  in  man. 
These  two  assumptions  naturally  go  together.  They  are 
*  twins '  suckled  by  the  same  wolf :  they  are  the  '  couple ' 
in  the  present  slave-hunt ;  and  the  latter  cannot  be  answered 
without  exposing  the  former.  It  is  only  when  slavery  is  ex 
hibited  in  its  truly  hateful  character,  that  we  can  fully  appre 
ciate  the  absurdity  of  the  assumption  which,  in  defiance  of  the 
express  letter  of  the  constitution,  and  without  a  single  sen 
tence,  phrase,  or  word  upholding  human  bondage,  yet  foists 
into  this  blameless  text  the  barbarous  idea  that  man  can  hold 
property  in  man." 

He  represented  the  barbarism  of  slavery  under 
the  law  of  slavery  in  five  distinct  elements,  — 

"  First,  assuming  that  man  can  hold  property  in  man ;  second 
ly,  abrogating  the  relation  of  husband  and  wife ;  thirdly,  abrogat 
ing  the  parental  tie ;  fourthly,  closing  the  gates  of  knowledge ; 
and  fifthly,  appropriating  the  unpaid  labor  of  another." 

In  respect  to  the  last  element  he  said,  — 

"  By  such  a  fallacy  is  a  whole  race  pauperized  ;  and  yet  this 
transaction  is  not  without  illustrative  example.  A  solemn  poet, 
whose  verse  has  found  wide  favor,  pictures  a  creature  who 


OF   CHAKLES  SUMNEB.  257 

'  With  one  hand  put 
A  penny  in  the  urn  of  poverty, 
And  with  the  other  took  a  shilling  out.** 

And  a  celebrated  traveller  through  Russia,  more  than  a 
generation  ago,  describes  a  kindred  spirit,  who,  while  on  his 
knees  before  an  altar  of  the  Greek  Church,  devoutly  told  his 
beads  with  one  hand,  and  with  the  other  deliberately  picked 
the  pocket  of  a  fellow-sinner  by  his  side." 

The  speaker  then,  by  a  careful  comparison  between 
the  industrial,  social,  and  literary  condition  of  the 
slave  and  the  free  States,  presented  the  sad  results 
of  slavery. 

In  speaking  of  the  influence  of  the  slave-system  on 
the  characters  of  the  slave-masters  he  said,  — 

"Barbarous  standards  of  conduct  are  unblushingly  avowed. 
The  swagger  of  a  bully  is  called,  chivalry ;  a  swiftness  to  quar 
rel  is  called  courage ;  the  bludgeon  is  adopted  as  the  substitute 
for  argument ;  and  assassination  is  lifted  to  be  one  of  the  fine 
arts.  Long  ago  it  was  fixed  certain  that  the  day  which  made 
man  a  slave  '  took  half  his  worth  away, '  —  words  from  the 
ancient  harp  of  Homer,  resounding  through  long  generations. 
Nothing  here  is  said  of  the  human  being  at  the  other  end  of 
the  chain.  To  aver  that  on  this  same  day  all  his  worth  is 
taken  away,  might  seem  inconsistent  with  exceptions  which  we 
gladly  recognize ;  but,  alas  !  it  is  too  clear,  both  from  reason 
and  from  evidence,  that,  bad  as  slavery  is  for  the  slave,  it  is 
worse  for  the  master." 

*  Pollok's  Course  of  Time,  Book  VEIL,  632. 


258  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

In  confirmation  of  this  point,  he  adds  these  words, 
which  Col.  Mason,  a  slave-master  from  Virginia,  used 
in  debate  on  the  adoption  of  the  national  constitution : 
"  They  produce  the  most  pernicious  effect  on  man 
ners.  Every  master  of  slaves  is  born  a  petty  tyrant. 
They  bring  the  judgment  of  Heaven  on  a  country." 

In  reference  to  suppression  of  freedom  of  speech, 
Mr.  Sumner  truly  said,  — 

"  Looking  now  at  the  broad  surface  of  society  where  slavery 
exists,  we  shall  find  its  spirit  actively  manifest  in  the  suppression 
of  all  freedom  of  speech  or  of  the  press,  especially  with  regard 
to  this  wrong.  Nobody  in  the  slave  States  can  speak  or  print 
against  slavery,  except  at  the  peril  of  life  or  liberty.  St.  Paul 
could  call  upon  the  people  of  Athens  to  give  up  the  worship  of 
unknown  gods  ;  he  could  live  in  his  own  hired  house  at  Rome, 
and  preach  Christianity  in  this  heathen  metropolis :  but  no 
man  can  be  heard  against  slavery  in  Charleston  or  Mobile." 

He  noticed  in  this  connection  the  ridiculous  at 
tempt  of  a  Southern  governor  to  secure  the  person  of 
a  distinguished  advocate  of  freedom  at  the  North. 

"  A  citizen,"  said  he,  "  of  purest  life  and  perfect  integrity, 
whose  name  is  destined  to  fill  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  history 
of  freedom,  —  William  Lloyd  Garrison.  Born  in  Massachusetts, 
bred  to  the  same  profession  with  Benjamin  Franklin,  and  like 
his  great  predecessor  becoming  an  editor,  he  saw  with  instinc 
tive  clearness  the  wrong  of  slavery ;  and,  at  a  period  when  the 
ardors  of  the  Missouri  Question  had  given  way  to  indifference 


OF   CHARLES   STJMNER.  259 

throughout  the  North,  he  stepped  forward  to  denounce  it.  The 
jail  at  Baltimore,  where  he  then  resided,  was  his  earliest  re 
ward.  Afterwards,  January  1,  1831,  he  published  the  first 
number  of  '  The  Liberator,'  inscribing  for  his  motto  an  utter 
ance  of  Christian  philanthropy,  'My  country  is  the  world  :  my 
countrymen  are  all  mankind/  and  declaring,  in  the  face  of  sur 
rounding  apathy,  'I  am  in  earnest.  I  will  not  equivocate  ;  I 
will  not  retreat  a  single  inch :  and  I  will  be  heard.'  In  this 
sublime  spirit  he  commenced  his  labors  for  the  slave,  proposing 
no  intervention  by  Congress  in  the  States,  and  on  well-consid 
ered  principle  avoiding  all  appeals  to  the  bondmen  themselves. 
Such  was  his  simple  and  thoroughly  constitutional  position, 
when,  before  the  expiration  of  the  first  year,  the  legislature  of 
Georgia,  by  solemn  act,  a  copy  of  which  I  have  now  before  me, 
1  approved '  by  Wilson  Lumpkin,  Governor,  appropriated  five 
thousand  dollars  '  to  be  paid  to  any  person  who  shall  arrest,  bring 
to  trial,  and  prosecute  to  conviction  under  the  laws  of  this  State, 
the  editor  or  publisher  of  a  certain  paper  called  "  The  Libera 
tor,"  published  at  the  town  of  Boston  and  State  of  Massachu 
setts.'  This  infamous  legislative  act,  touching  a  persqn 
absolutely  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  Georgia,  and  in  no  way 
amenable  to  its  laws,  constituted  a  plain  bribe  to  the  gangs  of 
kidnappers  engendered  by  slavery.  With  this  barefaced  defi 
ance  of  justice  and  decency,  slave-masters  inaugurated  the  sys 
tem  of  violence  by  which  they  have  sought  to  crush  every  voice 
that  has  been  raised  against  slavery." 

Under  the   second   claim  of  the   slaveocracy  he 
said :  — 

"  This    assumption    may  be    described  as   an   attempt  to 
Africanize  the  constitution  by  introducing  into  it  the  barbar- 


260  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

ous  law  of  slavery,  derived  as  we  have  seen  originally  from 
barbarous  Africa;  and  then,  through  such  Africanization  of  the 
constitution,  to  Africanize  the  Territories,  and  to  Africanize 
the  national  government.  .  .  .  Under  what  ordinance  of  nature 
or  of  nature's  God  is  one  human  being  stamped  an  owner, 
and  another  stamped  a  thing  ?  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons. 
Where  is  the  sanction  for  this  respect  of  certain  persons  to  a 
degree  which  becomes  outrage  to  other  persons  ?  God  is  the 
Father  of  the  human  family;  and  we  are  all  his  children. 
Where,  then,  is  the  sanction  of  this  pretension  by  which  a 
brother  lays  violent  hands  upon  a  brother?  To  ask  these 
questions  is  humiliating ;  but  it  is  clear  there  can  be  but  one 
response.  There  is  no  sanction  for  such  pretension,  no  ordi 
nance  for  it,  or  title.  On  all  grounds  of  reason,  and  waiving 
all  questions  of  'positive  '  statute,  the  Vermont  judge  was 
nobly  right,  when,  rejecting  the  claim  of  a  slave-master,  he 
said,  '  No ;  not  until  you  show  a  bill  of  sale  from  the 
Almighty.'  Nothing  short  of  this  impossible  link  in  the 
chain  of  title  would  do.  I  know  something  of  the  great  judg 
ments  by  which  the  jurisprudence  of  our  country  has  been 
illustrated  ;  but  I  doubt  if  there  is  any  thing  in  the  wisdom  of 
Marshall,  the  learning  of  Story,  or  the  completeness  of  Kent, 
which  will  brighten  with  time  like  this  honest  decree." 

In  closing  his  grand  argument,  Mr.  Sumner  used 
these  hopeful  words :  — 

"  Let  the  answer  become  a  legislative  act,  by  the  admission 
of  Kansas  as  a  free  State.  Then  will  the  barbarism  of  slavery 
be  repelled,  and  the  pretension  of  property  in  man  be  rebuked. 
Such  an  act,  closing  this  long  struggle  by  the  assurance  of 
peace  to  the  Territory,  if  not  of  tranquillity  to  the  whole  coun- 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  261 

try,  will  be  more  grateful  still  as  the  herald  of  that  better  day, 
near  at  hand,  when  freedom  shall  be  installed  everywhere 
under  the" national  government;  when  the  national  flag,  where- 
ever  it  floats,  on  sea  or  land,  within  the  national  jurisdiction, 
will  not  cover  a  single  slave;  and  when  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  now  reviled  in  the  name  of  slavery,  will  once 
again  be  reverenced  as  the  American  Magna  Charta  of  human 
rights.  Nor  is  this  all.  Such  an  act  will  be  the  first  stage  in 
those  triumphs  by  which  the  Republic  —  lifted  in  character 
so  as  to  become  an  example  to  mankind  —  will  enter  at  last 
upon  its  noble  'prerogative  of  teaching  the  nations  how  to 
live.' " 

This  magnificent  speech  was  unanswerable  except 
by  menace  and  vituperation.  It  struck  the  heart  of 
the  barbarous  system,  and  was  in  respect  to  argu 
ment  a  death-blow.  As  soon  as  Mr.  Sumner 
resumed*  his  seat,  Mr.  Chestnut  of  South  Carolina 
rose,  and  in.  the  bitter  spirit  of  the  doomed  institu 
tion  said,  — 

"  After  ranging  over  Europe,  crawling  through  the  back 
doors  to  whine  at  the  feet  of  British  aristocracy,  craving  pity, 
and  reaping  a  rich  harvest  of  contempt,  the  slanderer  of  States 
and  men  re-appears  in  the  Senate.  We  had  hoped  to  be 
relieved  from  the  outpourings  of  such  vulgar  malice.  We  had 
hoped  that  one  who  had  felt,  though  ignominiously  he  failed 
to  meet,  the  consequences  of  a  former  insolence,  would  have 
become  wiser,  if  not  better,  by  experience.  .  .  . 

"It  has  been  left  for  this  day,  for  this  country,  for  the 
abolitionists  of  Massachusetts,  to  deify  the  incarnation  of  malice, 


262  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

mendacity,  and  cowardice.  Sir,  we  do  not  intend  to  be  guilty  of 
aiding  in  the  apotheosis  of  pusillanimity  and  meanness.  We 
do  not  intend  to  contribute,  by  any  conduct  on  our  part,  to 
increase  the  devotees  at  the  shrine  of  this  new  idol.  We  know 
what  is  expected,  and  what  is  desired.  We  are  not  inclined  again 
to  send  forth  the  recipient  of  PUNISHMENT  howling  through  the 
world,  yelping  fresh  cries  of  slander  and  malice.  These  are  the 
reasons,  which  I  feel  it  due  to  myself  and  others  to  give  to  the 
Senate  and  the  country,  why  we  have  quietly  listened  to  what  has 
been  said,  and  why  we  can  take  no  other  notice  of  the  matter." 

"  Only  one  word,"  said  Mr.  Sumner,  who  with 
difficulty  gained  the  floor:  "I  exposed  to-day  the 
barbarism  of  slavery.  What  the  senator  has  said  in 
reply  to  me,  I  may  well  print  in  an  appendix  to  my 
speech  as  an  additional  illustration.  That  is  all." 

Mr.  Sumner  commenced  his  speech  about  twelve 
o'clock,  at  noon,  and  continued  till  about  four.  The 
galleries  of  the  Senate  were  filled  with  gentlemen 
and  ladies  from  the  North  and  South ;  and  the  most 
ominous  silence  prevailed.  Mr.  Wilson,  Mr.  King, 
Mr.  Bingham,  and  Mr.  Burlingame  sat  near  the 
speaker,  and,  had  any  attempt  at  personal  violence 
been  made  by  Messrs.  Keitt,  Hammond,  Toombs, 
Wigfall,  or  others  who  were  present,  smarting  under 
the  scourge  of  slavery,  would  doubtless  have  been 
ready  to  repel  it. 

In  commenting  on  this  speech,  the  correspondent 
of  "  The  Chicago  Press  and  Tribune  "  wrote,  "  The 


OP   CHARLES   SUMNEB.  263 

speech  of  Charles  Sumner  yesterday  was  probably 
the  most  masterly  argument  against  human  bondage 
that  has  ever  been  made  in  this  or  any  other  coun 
try  since  man  first  commenced  to  oppress  his  fellow- 
man/' 

Frederic  Douglass  in  his  paper  truly  said,  "The 
network  of  his  argument,  though  wonderfully  elabo 
rate  and  various,  is  everywhere  and  in  all  parts 
strong  as  iron.  The  whole  slave-holding  propagan 
da  of  the  Senate  might  dash  themselves  against  it, 
a  compact  body,  without  breaking  the  smallest  fibre 
of  its  various  parts." 

The  London  " Punch "  said,  "All  the  bludgeons 
in  the  hands  of  all  the  chivalry  of  the  South  cannot 
beat  that  demonstration  of  Mr.  Sumner's  case  out  of 
the  heads  of  the  public,  in  and  out  of  the  States." 

The  Democratic  papers,  however,  took  a  different 
view ;  and  their  general  opinion  may  be  seen  from 
this  remark  of  "  The  Albany  Atlas  and  Argus : " 
"No  one  can  rise  from  a  perusal  of  this  speech 
without  a  contempt  for  the  author,  and  a  conviction 
of  his  unfitness  for  the  place."  Several  of  the  Re 
publican  papers  thought  the  speech  too  strong,  and 
that  it  might  retard  the  passage  of  the  bill;  but 
desperate  cases  require  effective  remedies. 

Mr.  Sumner  received  a  large  number  of  letters 
congratulating  him  for  this  splendid  effort  on  behalf 


264  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

of  human  rights.  "  It  will  reach  every  corner  of 
the  land,"  wrote  Salmon  P.  Chase  :  " 4  cogens  omnes 
ante  thronumS  '  C'est  presqu'un  discours  antique/ 
said  a  French  gentleman  to  me  last  Saturday.  I  say, 
4  C'est  bien  plus.'  " 

"  It  did  me  good,"  wrote  Carl  Schurz,  "  to  hear 
again  the  true  ring  of  the  moral  anti-slavery  senti 
ment."  "  I  do  not  know,"  wrote  the  Rev.  Nathaniel 
Hall,  "  in  our  day  a  nobler  instance  of  moral 
bravery."  "  It  is  the  best  arranged  and  by  far  the 
most  complete  exposure  of  the  horrid  rite  of  slav 
ery,"  wrote  John  Bigelow  from  New  York,  "  to  be 
found  within  the  same  compass  in  any  language,  so 
far  as  known." 

"  I  take  pleasure  in  saying,"  said  Horace  White, 
in  a  letter  written  from  Chicago,  "  that  in  my  opin 
ion  your  recent  effort  ranks  with  Demosthenes  on 
the  Crown,  and  with  Burke  on  Warren  Hastings." 
"  Your  speech,"  wrote  A.  A.  Sargent  (now  senator 
from  California)  to  Mr.  Sumner,  "  stirred  my  heart 
with  feelings  of  pride  for  the  representative  of  my 
native  State." 

It  was  greatly  feared  by  the  friends  of  Mr.  Sum 
ner  that  personal  violence  would  again  be  offered 
him ;  and,  indeed,  the  attempt  was  made. 

On  the  eighth  day  of  June,  a  stranger  called  on  him 
in  the  evening,  stating  that  he  had  come  to  hold  him 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  265 

responsible  for  his  speech,  when  Mr.  Sumner  directed 
him  to  leave  the  room.  He  departed  after  some 
delay,  with  the  menace  that  he  and  his  three  friends 
from  Virginia  would  call  again.  Mr.  Sumner  sent 
immediately  for  Mr.  Wilson ;  and  in  the  course  of 
the  evening  three  men  came  to  the  door,  desiring  to 
see  Mr.  Sumner  alone ;  but,  as  he  was  in  company, 
the}r  left  word  at  the  door,  that,  if  they  could  not 
have  a  private  interview,  they  would  cut  his  throat 
before  another  night. 

Messrs.  Burlingame  and  Sherman  remained  as  a 
guard  until  the  next  morning. 

The  friends  of  Mr.  Sumner  were  much  alarmed ; 
and  among  others  G.  B.  Weston  thus  wrote  to  him 
from  Duxbury,  Mass.,  "  I  am  ready  to  shoulder  my 
musket,  and  march  to  the  Capitol,  and  there  sacrifice 
my  life  in  defence  of  free  speech  and  the  right." 
By  the  foresight  of  A.  B.  Johnson,  Mr.  Sumner 's 
private  secretary,  a  body-guard  armed  with  revolvers 
was  arranged,  which  attended  him,  without  his 
knowledge,  to  and  from  the  Senate-chamber. 

Prompt  to  sustain  him  in  his  heroic  defence  of 
truth,  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts  passed  on  the 
20th  of  June  these  resolutions  :  — 

"RESOLVED,  That  the  thanks  of  the  people  of  this  Com 
monwealth   are  due,    and   are   hereby  tendered,   to   the  Hon. 
CHARLES  SUMXER  for  his  recent  inanly  and  earnest  assertion 
12 


266  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

of  the  right  of  free  discussion  on  the  floor  of  the  United-States 
Senate ;  and  we  repeat  the  well-considered  words  of  our  prede 
cessors  in  these  seats,  in  approval  of  '  Mr.  Sumner's  manliness 
and  courage  in  his  fearless  declaration  of  free  principles,  and 
his  defence  of  human  rights  and  free  institutions.' 

"RESOLVED,  That  we  approve  the  thorough,  truthful,  and 
comprehensive  examination  of  the  institution  of  slavery,  em 
braced  in  Mr.  Sumner's  recent  speech ;  that  the  stern  morality 
of  that  speech,  its  logic,  and  its  power,  command  our  entire 
admiration ;  and  that  it  expresses  with  fidelity  the  sentiments 
of  Massachusetts  upon  the  question  therein  discussed." 

The  Republican  party  in  convention  at  Chicago 
in  May,  1860,  nominated  Abraham  Lincoln  —  who  had 
manifested  his  ability  and  his  devotion  to  the  cause 
of  freedom  especially  in  his  controversy  with 
Stephen  A.  Douglas  in  Illinois,  and  who  had  said, 
"  He  who  would  be  no  slave,  must  consent  to  have  no 
slave  "  —  as  its  candidate  for  the  Presidential  chair. 

John  C.  Breckenridge  (nominated  at  Charleston, 
S.  C.)  was  the  Southern,  Stephen  A.  Douglas  the 
Northern  Democratic,  and  John  Bell  (of  Ken 
tucky)  the  Union  candidate.  The  grand  ques 
tion  before  the  country  was  :  Shall  free  or  servile 
labor  have  the  ascendency  ?  Shall  the  vast  territo 
ries  of  the  Union  come  under  the  baleful  domina 
tion  of  slavery,  or  be  irradiated  by  the  genial  beams 
of  freedom  ?  The  aim  of  the  progressive  party  was 
the  dethronement  of  the  slave-power  in  the  national 


OP  CHAKLES   SUMNEB.  267 

government,  and  the   repression   of  that  power  to 
within  the  limits  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  States. 

Mr.  Sunnier  clearly  saw  and  felt  the  magnitude  of 
the  question  now  at  issue  between  the  parties,  and 
with  all  the  power  of  his  commanding  eloquence 
threw  himself  into  the  exciting  contest.  In  a  splen 
did  speech  before  an  immense  audience  at  Cooper 
Institute,  on  the  eleventh  day  of  July,  he  said  that  by 
the  election  of  Abraham  Lincoln  "  Ave  shall  put  the 
national  government  right,  at  least  in  its  executive 
department ;  "  "we  shall  save  the  Territories  from 
the  five-headed  barbarism  of  slavery ; "  "we  shall  save 
the  country  and  the  age  from  that  crying  infamy,  the 
slave-trade  ;  "  "we  shall  save  the  constitution,  at 
least  within  the  executive  influence,  from  outrage 
and  perversion  ;  "  "we  shall  help  save  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence,  now  dishonored  and  disowned 
in  its  essential,  life-giving  truth,  —  the  equality  of 
men;"  "and,  finally,  we  shall  help  expel  the  slave 
oligarchy  from  all  its  seats  of  national  power,  driving 
it  back  within  the  States."  In  conclusion  he  said, 
"  Others  may  dwell  on  the  past  as  secure ;  but,  to  my 
mind,  under  the  laws  of  a  beneficent  God  the  future 
also  is  secure,  on  the  single  condition  that  we  press 
forward  in  the  work  with  heart  and  soul,  forgetting 
self,  turning  from  all  temptations  of  the  hour,  and, 
intent  only  on  the  cause, 


268  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

'  With  mean  complacence  ne'er  betray  our  trust, 
Nor  be  so  civil  as  to  prove  unjust.' " 

In  a  strong  speech  at  the  State  Convention  of  the 
Republican  party  at  Worcester,  Aug.  29,  he  laid 
open  the  fallacy  of  the  double-headed  doctrine  of 
popular  sovereignty  proposed  by  Mr.  Douglas,  "  who 
was  ready  to  vote  slavery  up,  or  vote  it  down."  So 
in  open-air  meetings  at  Myrick's  Station,  Sept. 
18,  and  at  Framingham,  Oct.  11,  he  made  an  ad 
mirable  vindication  of  the  policy  of  the  Republican 
party.  At  the  latter  place  he  said,  — 

"  Freedom,  which  is  the  breath  of  God,  is  a  great 
leveller ;  but  it  raises  where  it  levels.  Slavery, 
which  is  the  breath  of  Satan,  is  also  a  great  leveller; 
but  it  degrades  every  thing,  carrying  with  it  master 
as  well  as  slave.  Choose  ye  between  them  ;  and  re 
member  that  your  first  duty  is  to  stand  up  straight, 
and  not  bend  before  absurd  threats,  whether  uttered 
at  the  South  or  repeated  here  in  Massachusetts.  Let 
people  cry  4  Disunion  ! '  We  know  what  the  cry 
means ;  and  we  answer  back,  '  The  Union  shall  be 
preserved,  and  made  more  precious  by  its  consecra 
tion  to  freedom.' ' 

On  the  evening  (Nov.  5),  before  the  grand  tri 
umph  of  the  Republican  party  in  the  election  of 
Mr.  Lincoln,  he  said  with  rapturous  emotion,  in  old 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  269 

Faneuil  Hall,  "  To-morrow  we  shall  have  not  only  a 
new  president,  but  a  new  government.  A  new 
order  of  things  will  begin ;  and  our  history  will  pro 
ceed  on  a  grander  scale,  in  harmony  with  those  sub 
lime  principles  in  which  it  commenced.  Let  the 
knell  sound ! 

4  Ring  out  the  old,  ring  in  the  new ! 
Ring  out  the  false,  ring  in  the  true ! 

Ring  out  a  slowly-dying  cause, 
And  ancient  forms  of  party  strife  1 
Ring  in  the  nobler  modes  of  life, 

With  sweeter  manners,  purer  laws  1 ' " 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Character  of  the  Southern  People.  —Preparations  for  Secession.  — 
Letter  of  Andrew  Jackson.  —  Firmness  of  Mr.  Sumner.  —  Ex 
tract  from  his  Letters.  —  Mr.  Lincoln's  Inaugural.  —  Mr.  Sumner 
appointed  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations.  — 
His  Influence  with  Mr.  Lincoln.  —  His  Passage  through  Balti 
more.  —  A  Steady  Friend  of  the  Colored  Race.  —  His  Speech  at 
Worcester.  —  He  advocates  Emancipation.  —  Tribute  to  Col.  E. 
D.  Baker.  —  His  Speech  on  the  Trent  Affair.  —  Resolutions  for 
Emancipation.  —  Article  from  "  The  Atlantic  Monthly."  —  Aboli 
tion  of  Slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  —  Hayti  and  Liberia.  — 
Confiscation  and  Liberation.  —  Speech  at  Faneuil  Hall.  —  The 
President's  Proclamation  of  Emancipation.  —  Its  Effect. 

"  Ring  in  the  valiant  man  and  free, 
The  larger  heart,  the  kindlier  hand. 
Ring  out  the  darkness  of  the  land  ! 
Ring  in  the  Christ  that  is  to  be  !" 


"  Still  as  an  unmoved  rock 
"Washed  white,  but  not  shaken  by  the  shock  ; 
His  heart  conceived  no  sinister  device  : 
Fearless  he  played  with  flame,  and  trod  on  ice." 

"  His  was  the  celestial  beauty 
Of  a  soul  that  does  its  duty." 

'HE  Southern   people   possess    magnanimous 
traits  of   character  :    they  are  brave,  open- 
hearted,  courteous,  and  hospitable.     But  the 
brightness    of    these    noble    traits    was    solnewhat 

270 


CHARLES   StTMNER.  271 

shaded  by  the  baleful  influence  of  slavery.  They 
devote  much  time  and  attention  to  political  studies  ; 
and  the  controlling  power  which  they  long  exercised 
in  the  national  government,  even  when  a  Webster 
led  the  North,  is  in  attestation  of  their  activity  and 
skill  in  political  management.  But  they  misunder 
stood  the  spirit  of  this  section  of  the  Union,  which 
was  not  that  of  domination  or  of  violence,  but  of 
humanity  and  fraternity.  They  also  underestimated 
the  unity  of  sentiment  and  the  valor  of  those  they 
falsely  deemed  their  enemies.  For  this  their  leaders 
were  to  a  great  extent  responsible. 

During  the  presidential  canvass  of  1860,  the 
Southern  States  were  secretly  storing  arms,  and  mak 
ing  other  preparations  for  the  dissolution  of  the 
Union ;  and,  immediately  after  the  triumph  of  the 
Republican  party  in  the  election  of  Abraham  Lin 
coln  to  the  presidential  chair,  in  November,'  public 
meetings  were  held  in  South  Carolina  urging  a 
secession  from  the  Union.  On  the  opening  of  Con 
gress  (Dec.  4),  this  determination  at  once  became 
apparent ;  and  a  resolution  was  presented  to  the 
Senate  on  the  following  day,  that  a  committee 
be  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  present  agitated  and 
distracted  state  of  the  country. 

In  speaking  on  this  resolution,  Mr.  Sumner  intro 
duced  with  startling  effect  an  unpublished  autograph 


272  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

letter  of  Andrew  Jackson,  containing  these  remark 
able  words :  "  Haman's  gallows  ought  to  be  the  fate 
of  all  such  ambitious  men,  who  would  involve  their 
country  in  a  civil  war,  and  all  the  evils  in  its  train, 
that  they  might  reign  and  ride  on  its  whirlwinds,  and 
direct  the  storm.  .  .  .  The  tariff  was  only  the  pre 
text  (for  nullification),  and  disunion  and  a  Southern 
confederacy  the  real  object.  The  next  pretext  will 
be  the  negro  or  slavery  question." 

To  the  Crittenden  Compromise,  introduced  into 
the  Senate  Dec.  18,  and  recognizing  slavery  in  the 
territory  south  of  36°  30'  north  latitude,  Mr.  Sum- 
ner  was  unequivocally  opposed.  South  Carolina 
passed  the  ordinance  of  secession  on  the  twentieth 
day  of  December.  Other  States  soon  followed :  stout 
hearts  were  trembling ;  yet  through  the  tremendous 
agitation  Mr.  Sumner  stood  to  principle  firm  as  a 
rock.  He  saw  the  storm  impending  ;  he  deprecated 
bloodshed ;  he  felt  that  the  best  way  to  avert  it  was  for 
the  North  to  hold  itself  immovable.  He  exhorted 
every  one  to  stand  for  the  right  with  unwavering 
front.  He  wrote  (Jan.  1)  to  William  Claflin,  Presi 
dent  of  the  Massachusetts  Senate,  "  Let  the  timid 
cry ;  but  let  Massachusetts  stand  stiff :  God  bless 
her !  "  To  Count  Gurowski,  author  of  an  admirable 
treatise  on  slavery,  he  wrote  (Jan.  8),  "  These 
compromisers  do  not  comprehend  the  glory  of  prin- 


OF  CHAKLES   SUMNEK.  273 

ciple.  Perissent  les  colonies  plutot  qiCun  principe  !  " 
In  a  letter  to  Gov.  John  A.  Andrew,  dated  Jan. 
17,  he  said,  "  Pray  keep  Massachusetts  sound  and 
firm,  FIRM,  FIRM !  against  every  word  or  step 
of  concession."  In  another  letter  to  the  same,  dated 
Jan.  28,  he  said,  "  Timeo  Danaos  et  dona  ferentes  : 
don't  let  these  words  be  ever  out  of  your  mind  when 
you  think  of  any  proposition  from  the  slave-mas 
ters.  O  God!  Let  Massachusetts  keep  true."  So 
again  he  wrote  (Feb.  5),  "  More  than  the  loss  efforts, 
arsenals,  or  the  national  capital,  I  fear  the  loss  of  our 
principles ; "  and  again  (Feb.  10)  he  wrote  to  the 
same,  "  I  do  not  tremble  for  any  tiling  from  our 
opponents,  whoever  they  may  be,  but  from  our 
friends." 

On  assuming  the  duties  of  his  office  (March  4),  Mr. 
Lincoln  declared  that  he  had  "  no  purpose  to  inter 
fere  with  the  institution  of  slavery  "  where  it  existed, 
and  that  in  his  opinion  he  had  "  no  right  to  do  so." 

The  course  of  the  secession  leaders  had,  however, 
been  elected ;  and  the  conciliatory  inaugural  of  the 
president  served  but  to  call  forth  their  denunciation 
and  contempt.  One  after  another  the  Southern 
members  withdrew  from  Congress,  thus  leaving  the 
Republicans  in  the  ascendant ;  and  Mr.  Sumner  was 
on  the  8th  of  April  made  chairman,  in  place  of  Mr. 
Mason  of  Virginia,  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign 


274  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

Relations,  for  which,  by  his  long  residence  abroad,  and 
his  profound  knowledge  of  international  law,  he 
was  admirably  qualified. 

He  immediately  made  the  acquaintance  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  of  whom  during  the  long  and  dreadful 
struggle  which  ensued  he  was  a  confidential  adviser. 
He  first  presented  to  him  emancipation  as  a  war 
measure,  the  day  after  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  and 
steadily  pressed  it  upon  his  attention  until  its  procla 
mation.  "  There  is  no  person,"  said  the  president  to 
Mr.  Sumner,  near  the  close  of  his  life,  "  with  whom 
I  have  more  advised  throughout  my  administration 
than  with  yourself." 

Mr.  Sumner  left  Washington,  then  in  a  state  of 
great  excitement,  on  the  18th  of  April ;  and,  while 
he  was  stopping  at  Barnum's  Hotel  in  Baltimore, 
on  the  evening  of  that  day,  occurred  the  prelude  to 
the  bloody  scenes  which  took  place  on  the  morrow. 
A  noisy  crowd  surrounded  the  building,  and  de 
manded  his  person.  He  was  fortunately  absent  from 
the  house  at  the  time,  so  that  Mr.  Barnum  was  able 
to  satisfy  the  disorderly  people,  who  retired.  On 
Mr.  Simmer's  entering  the  hotel  soon  afterwards,  by 
a  private  door,  he  was  requested  to  leave  at  once, 
and  not  imperil  the  establishment;  but  he  insisted 
on  remaining,  which  he  was  finally  allowed  to  do. 
Departing  early  in  the  morning  of  the  19th,  he  met, 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNEK.  275 

on  his  way  to  Philadelphia,  the  Sixth  Regiment, 
which  was  called  that  day,  while  passing  through 
the  infuriated  city  of  Baltimore,  to  sprinkle  the 
altar  of  freedom  with  its  blood.  On  arriving  at 
New  York,  he  visited  the  Third  Battalion  of  the 
Massachusetts  Rifles,  to  whom  he  made  an  encour 
aging  address. 

As  the  Southern  States,  one  after  another,  swung 
away  from  allegiance  to  the  government,  and  as  the 
great  drama  of  the  war,  opened  by  the  Sumter 
guns,  proceeded,  an  immense  amount  of  hard  and 
active  service  was  demanded  in  the  halls  of  Congress, 
as  well  as  on  the  battle-field.  True  to  his  past  rec 
ord,  Mr.  Sumner  brought  himself  up  grandly  to  the 
new  questions,  and  guarded  with  untiring  vigilance 
the  rights  of  the  colored  race.  Through  storm  and 
through  sunshine,  he  stood  forth  the  learned,  the 
eloquent,  the  indomitable  defender  of  the  slave.  Had 
he  been  called  to  reconcile  his  peace  principles  with 
the  musterings  of  the  squadrons  of  the  grand  army, 
his  reply  would  have  been,  — 

"  Slavery  is  a  state  of  war.  To  secure  peace,  we 
must  stand  rock-like  to  the  constitution,  and  under 
its  broad  folds  remove  the  cause  of  war." 

On  the  opening  of  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress, 
July  4,  1861,  he  was  at  his  post ;  and  the  volumes  of 
the  Congressional  Globe  disclose  the  active  part  he 


276  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

took  in  almost  every  senatorial  question  through  the 
war.  In  a  speech  at  Worcester  on  the  first  day  of 
October,  1861,  he  boldly  affirmed  that  emancipation 
was  the  best  weapon  of  the  war.  "  Two  objects 
are,"  said  he,' "before  us,  —  union  and  peace,  each 
for  the  sake  of  the  other,  and  both  for  the  sake  of 
the  country;  but  without  emancipation  how  can 
we  expect  either?"  This  declaration  startled  the 
Republicans  even,  and  drew  forth  severe  animadver 
sions  from  the  Democratic  press.  But  Mr.  Sumner 
was  at  the  front ;  and  it  was  then  truly  said  of  him,  — 

"  Thou  hast  hurled 

Thy  single  pebble,  plucked  from  truth's  pure  stream, 
Into  the  forehead  of  a  giant  wrong ; 
And  it  doth  reel  and  tremble.     Men  may  doubt ; 
But  the  keen  sword  of  right  shall  finish  well 
Thy  brave  beginning.     Courage,  then,  true  soul!  " 

Before  a  vast  assembly  at  the  Cooper  Institute  in 
New  York,  Nov.  27,  Mr.  Sumner  made  an  eloquent 
speech,  enriched  by  apt  quotations  and  by  cogent 
reasoning,  in  which  he  again  intimated  his  desire 
that  emancipation  be  proclaimed.  "  There  has  been," 
said  he,  "  the  cry,  '  On  to  Richmond ! '  and  still 
another  worse  cry,  c  On  to  England  I '  Better  than 
either  is  the  cry,  c  On  to  freedom  I ' : 

Soon  after  the  opening  of  Congress  Dec.  4,  Mr. 


OF  CHARLES  SUMNER.  277 

Sumner  spoke  earnestly  on  a  resolution  for  the  dis 
charge  of  fugitive  slaves  from  the  Washington  Jail, 
and  characterized  the  Black  Code,  prevailing  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  as  "  a  shame  to  the  civilization 
of  the  age ; "  and  on  the  llth  he  delivered  in 
the  Senate,  Abraham  Lincoln  being  present,  a  very 
touching  and  appropriate  eulogy  on  Senator  E.  D. 
Baker,  killed  at  Ball's  Bluff  Oct.  21,  while  serving 
a  piece  of  artillery.  In  the  course  of  this  fine 
tribute  he  said  :  — 

"  The  nine  balls  that  slew  our  departed  brother  came  from 
slavery.  Every  gaping  wound  of  his  slashed  bosom  came  from 
slavery.  Every  drop  of  his  generous  blood  cries  out  from  the 
ground  against  slavery.  .  .  .  The  just  avenger  is  at  hand,  with 
weapon  of  celestial  temper.  Let  it  be  drawn !  Until  this  is 
done,  the  patriot,  discerning  clearly  the  secret  of  our  weakness, 
can  only  say  sorrowfully,  — 

'Bleed,  "bleed,  poor  country! 
Great  tyranny,  lay  thou  thy  basis  sure; 
For  goodness  dares  not  check  thee.' " 

As  the  war  went  on,  Mr.  Sumner  felt  more  and 
more  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  emancipation ; 
and  on  the  27th  of  December  he  wrote  a  letter  to 

Gov.  Andrew,  in  which  he  said,  — 

• 

"  Let  the  doctrine  of  emancipation  be  proclaimed  as  an  essen 
tial  and  happy  agency  in  subduing  a  wicked  rebellion.  In  this 


278  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

way  you  will  help  a  majority  of  the  cabinet,  whose  opinions  on 
this  subject  are  fixed,  and  precede  the  president  himself  by  a 
few  weeks.  He  tells  me  that  I  am  ahead  of  him  only  a  month 
or  six  weeks.  God  bless  you !  " 

On  the  9th  of  January,  1862,  Mr.  Sumner  made 
in  the  Senate,  then  thronged  with  eager  listeners, 
his  exhaustive  and  noble  speech  on  the  "  Trent " 
affair,  which  came  near  involving,  as  it  afterwards 
appeared,  this  country  in  war  with  England.  Messrs. 
Mason  and  Slidell,  it  will  be  remembered,  who  had 
been  commissioned  as  rebel  agents,  the  one  to  Eng 
land  and  the  other  to  France,  were  arrested  on 
board  the  British  mail-steamer  "  Trent,"  by  Capt. 
Wilkes  of  the  frigate  "  San  Jacinto,"  and  brought  as 
prisoners  to  this  country.  England  considered  it  a 
casus  belli ;  and  popular  opinion  here  indorsed  the 
course  of  Capt.  Wilkes.  Mr.  Sumner,  unmoved  by 
public  sentiment,  discussed  the  question  on  the 
broad  grounds  of  international  law  and  maritime 
rights,  and  thus  came  to  the  conclusion  that  "  the 
seizure  of  the  rebel  emissaries  on  board  a  neutral 
ship  cannot  be  justified."  "  Let  the  rebels  go,"  said 
he.  "  Two  wicked  men,  ungrateful  to  their  country, 
with  two  younger  confederates,  are  set  loose  with 
the  brand  of  Cain  upon  their  foreheads ;  prison- 
doors  are  opened :  but  principles  are  established 
which  will  help  to  free  other  men,  and  to  open  the 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  279 

gates  of  the  sea."  Although  many  public  journals 
criticized  this  calm  and  dispassionate  review  of  the 
case,  "  The  New- York  Tribune  "  said,  "It  is  already 
ranked  in  Washington  as  a  State  paper  upon  the 
question  of  seizure  and  search,  worthy  to  be  placed- 
side  by  side  with  the  despatches  of  Madison  and 
Jefferson ;  "  and  this  is  now  the  decision  of  the 
country.* 

On  the  llth  of  February  following,  Mr.  Sumner 
brought  into  the  Senate  a  series  of  resolutions  which 
embodied  the  principles  of  emancipation,  and  pointed 
out  a  method  of  reconstruction  of  the  rebel  States. 
He  held  that  slavery,  having  no  constitutional  origin 
or  natural  right,  must  cease  with  the  lapsing  of  the 
State  where  it  existed,  and  that  Congress  must  then 
assume  complete  jurisdiction  of  the  vacated  territory. 
This  was  the  first  attempt  made  in  the  Senate  for 
the  settlement  of  two  of  the  greatest  questions  of  the 
war;  but,  as  usual,  Congress  was  not  ready  for 
the  advanced  measures  of  this  leading  anti-slavery 
champion ;  and  the  resolutions  were  laid  upon  the 
table.  The  speech  which  Mr.  Sumner  then  pre 
pared  to  make  was  published  in  the  October  number 

*  Messrs.  J.  M.  Mason  and  John  Slidell  were  released  from  Fort 
"Warren,  Boston  Harbor,  Jan.  2,  1802,  and  sailed  for  England.  The 
former  was  the  author  of  the  Fngitive-Slave  Bill,  and  died  April  29, 
1871 :  the  latter  died  in  London,  July  29  of  the  same  year. 


280  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

of  "  The  Atlantic  Monthly  "  of  the  year  following, 
and  thus  concludes  :  — 

"Behold  the  rebel  States  in  arms  against  that  paternal  gov 
ernment  to  which,  as  the  supreme  condition  of  their  constitu 
tional  existence,  they  owe  duty  and  love;  and  behold  all 
legitimate  powers,  executive,  legislative,  and  judicial,  in  these 
States  abandoned  and  vacated.  It  only  remains  that  Congress 
should  enter,  and  assume  the  proper  jurisdiction.  If  we  are  not 
ready  to  exclaim  with  Burke,  speaking  of  revolutionary  France, 
*  It  is  but  an  empty  space  on  the  political  map  ! '  we  may  at  least 
adopt  the  response  hurled  back  by  Mirabeau,  that  this  empty 
space  is  a  volcano  red  with  flames,  and  overflowing  with  lava- 
floods.  But,  whether  we  deal  with  it  as  '  empty  space '  or  as 
'  volcano,' the  jurisdiction,  civil  and  military,  centres  in  Con 
gress,  to  be  employed  for  the  happiness,  welfare,  and  renown  of 
the  American  people,  changing  slavery  into  freedom,  and  pres 
ent  chaos  into  a  cosmos  of  perpetual  beauty  and  peace." 

On  Mr.  Wilson's  bill  for  the  abolition  of  slavery 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  Mr.  Sumner  made 
(March  31)  a  very  statesmanlike  speech,  advocating 
ransom  rather  than  compensation,  and  clearly  in 
timating  what  was  soon  to  come. 

"At  the  national  capital,"  said  he,  "slavery  will  give  way  to 
freedom ;  but  the  good  work  will  not  stop  here :  it  must  pro 
ceed.  What  God  and  Nature  decree,  rebellion  cannot  arrest. 
And,  as  the  whole  wide-spread  tyranny  begins  to  tremble,  then, 
above  the  din  of  battle,  sounding  from  sea  to  sea  and  echoing 
along  the  land,  above  even  the  exultations  of  victory  on  well- 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNEK.  281 

fought  fields,  will  ascend  voices  of  gladness  and  benediction, 
swelling  from  generous  hearts  wherever  civilization  bears  sway, 
to  commemorate  a  sacred  triumph,  whose  trophies,  instead  of 
tattered  banners,  will  be  ransomed  slaves." 


This  bill  became  a  law  on  the  16th  of  April.  Just 
previous  to  its  signature  by  the  president,  Mr.  Sum- 
ner  said  to  him,  "  Who  is  the  largest  slaveholder 
in  the  country  ?  "  "  Who  is  he  ?  "  replied  Mr.  Lin 
coln.  "  You  yourself,  sir,'-'  returned  the  other, 
"  holding,  as  you  do,  all  in  this  District." 

On  the  23d  of  the  month  last  named,  he  spoke 
eloquently  on  his  bill  for  the  recognition  of  the  in 
dependence  of  Hayti  and  Liberia,  which  was  carried 
through  the  house  mainly  by  the  efforts  of  Mr. 
Gooch,  and  was  signed  by  Mr.  Lincoln  June  6, 1862. 
"  This  law,"  Mr.  Andrew  wrote  to  Mr.  Sumner,  "  will 
be  a  jewel  in  your  crown."  The  Haytian  people  sub 
sequently  tendered  an  elegant  medal  to  Mr.  Sumner, 
which  he,  in  accordance  with  views  previously  ex 
pressed,  declined  to  receive.  It  was  therefore,  in 
1871,  deposited  in  the  library  of  the  State  House 
of  Massachusetts.  On  the  24th  of  April  Mr.  Sum 
ner  reported  a  bill,  on  which  he  made  effective 
remarks,  for  the  final  suppression  of  the  slave-trade, 
which,  to  the  disgrace  of  humanity,  was  still  pro 
tected  by  our  flag.  The  bill  was  approved  by  Mr. 


282  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

Lincoln   July  11 ;    and    thus,  by  treaty  with  Eng 
land,  that  inhuman  traffic  was  at  last  prohibited. 

In  his  anxiety  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion, 
and  the  upraising  of  the  slave,  Mr.  Sumner  spoke 
with  great  vigor  in  the  Senate,  May  19,  urging  the 
confiscation  of  rebel  property,  and  emancipation,  as 
in  accordance  with  the  rights  of  sovereignty  and  of 
war.  He  also  again  spoke  with  much  force  on  the 
same  subject,  June  27,  when  he  said  in  respect  to 
liberation,  "  The  language  of  Chatham  is  not  mis 
applied  when  I  call  it  the  master-feather  of  the 
eagle's  wing."  His  last  speech  (July  16)  previous 
to  the  close  of  the  session,  was  in  accordance  with 
his  whole  course  from  the  opening  of  the  war,  —  that 
the  slaves  must  be  set  free,  and  employed  for  the  sup 
pression  of  the  rebellion ;  and  in  a  letter  to  the  Re 
publican  State  Committee,  dated  Boston,  Sept.  9, 
he  said,  "  Banks  also  symbolized  the  idea,  when, 
overtaking  the  little  slave-girl  on  her  way  to  free 
dom,  he  lifted  her  upon  the  national  cannon."  In 
an  admirable  speech  at  Faneuil  Hall,  on  the  sixth 
day  of  October,  which  was  received  with  gieat  en 
thusiasm,  he  triumphantly  refuted  the  objections  to 
emancipation,  and  urged  it  with  signal  power,  as  the 
military  necessity.  "  The  last  chapter  of  '  Rasselas,'  " 
he  felicitously  said,  "  is  entitled  The  Conclusion  in 
which  Nothing  is  Concluded ;  and  this  will  be  the 


OF   CHAELES   STJMNER.  283 

proper  title  for  the  history  of  this  war,  if  slavery  is 
allowed  to  endure.  If  you  would  trample  down  the 
rebellion,  you  must  trample  down  slavery  ;  and,  be 
lieve  me,  it  must  be  completely  done." 

On  the  first  day  of  January,  1868,  President  Lin 
coln  issued  his  grand  proclamation,  declaring  "  for 
ever  free  the  slaves  in  the  States  then  in  rebellion," 
excepting  in  certain  parts  occupied  mainly  by  the 
Union  army ;  and  he  thus  brought  the  nation  up  to 
its  true  position  in  the  dreadful  contest.  By  this 
glorious  act,  the  gates  to  freedom  were  thrown  open 
to  three  and  a  half  million  people,  and  the  hearts  of 
loyal  soldiers  strengthened  for  the  combat :  by  it  the 
doom  of  slavery,  though  slow  to  come,  was  sealed. 
Then  the  bell  of  time  again  pealed  forth  the  rousing 
note  of  human  progress  ;  and  the  world  moved  for 
ward. 

"  O  dark,  sad  millions,  patiently  and  dumb 
Waiting  for  God  !    Your  hour  at  last  has  come  ; 

And  freedom's  song 
Breaks  the  long  silence  of  your  night  of  wrong." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Mr.  Stunner's  Be-election  to  the  Senate. — He  Introduces  various 
Bills  into  that  Body.  —  The  Opinion  of  Mr.  Hendricks. — Letter 
from  Dr.  R  H.  Neale.  —Mr.  Sumner's  Activity.  —  His  Address  at 
Cooper  Institute  on  our  Foreign  Relations.  — Extracts  from  the 
Same.  —  A  Poetical  Tribute.  —  Death  and  Character  of  George 
Sumner.  —  Senator  Sumner's  Article  on  Franklin  and  Slidell  in 
"  The  Atlantic  Monthly."  —  His  Taste  for  Literary  Curiosities.  — 
His  Activity  and  Foresight  in  Congress.  — His  Speech  on  the  Con 
stitutional  Amendment.  —  On  the  Freedmen's-Bureau  Bill.  —  His 
Friendly  Relations  with  Mr.  Lincoln.  —  The  Success  of  the  Union 
Arms.  —  Death  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  —  Mr.  Sumner's  Eulogy.  —  Letter 
to  Mr.  Garfield. 

"  Who  is  the  HONEST  MAN? 
He  who  doth  still  and  strongly  good  pursue, 
To  God,  his  neighbor,  and  himself  most  true." 

GEORGE  HERHEKT. 

"  In  all  things  that  have  beauty,  there  is  nothing  to  men  more  comely  than 
liberty.  Give  me  the  liberty  to  know,  to  utter,  and  to  argue  freely,  above  all 
liberties."— JOHN  MILTON. 

"  Thy  spirit,  Independence,  let  me  share, 
Lord  of  the  lion  heart  and  eagle  eye : 
Thy  steps  I'll  follow  with  my  bosom  bare, 
Nor  heed  the  storm  tliat  howls  along  the  sky." 

TOBIAS  SMOLLETT. 

'LTHOUGH   Mr.  Sumner  had  labored  with 
untiring  assiduity  for  the  advancement  of  the 
Union  cause,  and  in  the  discussion  of  inter 
national  questions  had  shown  himself  a  master,  stren- 

284 


CHARLES   SUMNER.  285 

nous  efforts  were  made  to  prevent  his  re-election  to 
the  Senate.  A  party  opposed  to  emancipation  held 
what  was  denominated  the  People's  Convention,  in 
Faneuil  Hall,  on  the  seventh  day  of  October,  and 
nominated  State  officers  opposed  to  the  policy  of  the 
Republicans.  These  nominations  were  adopted  by 
the  Democrats  ;  and  a  bitter  attack  was  made  on  Mr. 
Sumner.  The  old  charge  of  fanaticism  was  reiterated ; 
and  it  was  asserted  that  next  to  Jefferson  Davis  he 
was  worthy  of  the  scaffold.  To  the  strong  good  sense 
of  the  Commonwealth,  however,  it  was  clear  that  no 
man  could  so  ably  and  so  honestly  as  he  represent 
her  in  the  halls  of  Congress.  On  the  fifteenth  day 
of  January,  1863,  therefore,  the  Senate  gave  him 
thirty-three  out  of  thirty-nine,  and  the  house  one 
hundred  and  ninety-four  out  of  two  hundred  and 
thirty-five,  votes  for  a  third  term  of  six  years  in  the 
United-States  Senate. 

On  the  ninth  day  of  February  Mr.  Sumner  intro 
duced  into  the  Senate  a  bill  for  the  employment  of 
colored  troops  in  the  army,  which  in  another  form 
eventually  prevailed ;  and,  on  the  bill  before  the  Sen 
ate  for  providing  aid  for  emancipation  in  Missouri, 
he  spoke  earnestly  in  favor  of  immediate,  instead  of 
gradual  liberation,  as  alone  consistent  with  a  sound 
war-policy.  On  the  16th  of  the  same  month,  he 
advocated,  in  opposition  to  his  colleague,  the  exemp- 


286  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

tion  of  clergymen  from  military  conscription ;  and  on 
the  27th  he  moved,  as  an  amendment  to  the  house 
bill  to  extend  the  charter  of  the  Washington  and 
Alexandria  Railroad  Company,  that  "  No  person  shall 
be  excluded  from  the  cars  on  account  of  color." 
The  bill,  thus  amended,  became  a  law  on  the  3d  of 
March ;  and  on  the  16th  of  that  month  he  proposed 
to  amend  the  bill  to  incorporate  the  Metropolitan 
Railroad  Company,  by  adding  the  words,  "  There 
shall  be  no  regulation  excluding  persons  from  any 
car  on  account  of  color."  He  also  proposed  a  simi 
lar  amendment  to  the  bill  respecting  the  Georgetown 
Railroad  Company.  These  amendments  were  stout 
ly  opposed  by  Mr.  Saulsbury  of  Delaware,  and 
others,  but  were,  through  the  energy  of  Mr.  Sum- 
ner,  finally  carried  and  enacted.  Mr.  Hendricks  of 
Indiana  said,  in  respect  to  Mr.  Sumner's  persistency 
in  following  up  his  amendments,  that  it  was  folly  to 
attempt  to  oppose  him  when  he  had  a  point  to  gain. 
There  is  no  doubt  his  very  earnestness  appeared  to 
some  as  arrogance,  and  raised  an  opposition  to  some 
of  his  measures,  which  otherwise  would  have  been  at 
once  accepted.  Although  he  manifested  such  untir 
ing  zeal  in  respect  to  the  grand  question  of  the 
country,  he  was  by  no  means  inattentive  to  other 
issues,  and  especially  to  those  pertaining  to  our  rela 
tions  with  foreign  powers.  His  course  Avas  generally 


OF    CHARLES   SUMNER.  287 

indorsed  by  thoughtful  men  in  every  section  of  the 
North.  In  a  letter  to  Henry  Wilson,  dated  Boston, 
March  4,  1863,  the  Rev.  R.  H.  Neale,  D.D.,  said,  "  I 
have  followed  your  course  with  increasing  admira 
tion  from  the  beginning  of  your  public  life,  and 
think  I  see  in  you,  and  also  in  Mr.  Sumner,  unmixed 
and  magnanimous  regard  for  the  right,  and  for  the 
public  good." 

Mr.  Sumner's  earnest  recommendation  of  E.  M. 
Stanton  to  Mr.  Lincoln  as  secretary  of  war,  and  his 
equally  persistent  opposition  to  Gen.  G.  B.  McClellan 
as  commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  appeared 
in  the  issue  to  have  been  alike  founded  on  a  just 
appreciation  of  the  character  of  the  men  and  the 
real  situation  of  the  country. 

During  the  memorable  days  of  July,  in  the  early 
part  of  which  occurred  the  tremendous  struggles 
and  Union  victories  at  Gettysburg,  Vicksburg,  and 
Port  Hudson,  he  was  at  Washington,  encouraging 
the  president  and  his  cabinet,  and  making  provisions 
for  the  sufferings  of  the  wounded.  Always  confi 
dent  of  ultimate  success,  he  threw  his  own  deep  con 
victions  into  the  hearts  of  those  around  him,  and 
inspired  the  faltering  with  hope  and  confidence. 
Immediately  after  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  he  issued 
a  new  edition  of  "  The  Barbarism  of  Slavery,"  dedi 
cating  it  to  the  young  men  of  the  United  States  as  a 


288  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

"  token  of  heartfelt  gratitude  to  them  for  brave  and 
patriotic  service  rendered  in  the  present  war  for  civ 
ilization." 

Moved  by  various  questionable  motives,  England 
and  France  assumed  at  the  opening  of  the  war, 
and  persistently  maintained,  an  unfriendly  attitude 
towards  the  Union.  They  early  acknowledged 
the  Southern  Confederacy  as  a  belligerent  power. 
Through  her  leading  statesmen  England  sharply  criti 
cised  the  war-measures  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  administra 
tion,  and,  in  disregard  of  international  comity,  per 
mitted  the  piratical  steamer  "Alabama "  and  other 
vessels  to  be  constructed  in  her  ports,  and  to  sail  there 
from,  to  commit  depredations  on  our  commerce. 
This  sympathy  with  States  in  rebellion,  and  the 
infringement  of  maritime  rights,  alarmed  the  public 
mind,  and  received  the  most  profound  consideration 
of  our  diplomats  abroad.  At  a  large  meeting  at 
Cooper  Institute,  New  York,  Sept.  10,  1868,  Mr. 
Sumner,  in  a  calm,  dispassionate,  and  exhaustive 
speech,  exhibiting  profound  historical  research,  as 
well  as  an  exalted  statesmanship,  considered  "  Our 
Present  Perils  from  England  and  France  ;  the  Nature 
and  Conditions  of  Intervention  by  Mediation,  and 
also  by  Recognition ;  the  Impossibility  of  any  Rec 
ognition  of  a  New  Power  with  Slavery  as  a  Corner 
stone;  and  the  Wrongful  Concession  of  Ocean 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNEB.  289 

Belligerency."  "  The  New-York  Tribune  "  charac 
terized  this  speech  as  a  "  miracle  of  historical  and 
statesmanlike  erudition."  The  questions  at  issue 
were  met  on  the  high  ground  of  fact  and  right ;  and, 
while  the  tone  of  discussion  was  amicable,  the  aggra 
vating  course  of  France  and  England  towards  our 
government  was  most  distinctly  stated,  and  the  false 
position  of  these  neutral  powers  condemned.  Per 
haps  no  other  American  could  have  so  ably  treated 
this  important  subject ;  and  it  is  justly  esteemed  as 
one  of  Mr.  Sumner's  finest  efforts.  It  was,  of 
course,  criticised  in  England ;  but  its  effect  was  salu 
tary  to  that  nation.  At  the  close  of  his  address,  the 
speaker  tendered  this  advice,  respecting  our  affairs  at 
home,  to  the  assembly  :  — 

"  This  is  no  time  to  stop.  FORWARD  !  FORWARD  !  Thus  do  I, 
who  formerly  pleaded  so  often  for  peace,  now  sound  to  arms ; 
but  it  is  because,  in  this  terrible  moment,  there  is  no  other 
way  to  that  sincere  and  solid  peace  without  which  there  will 
be  endless  war.  Even  on  economic  grounds,  it  were  better 
that  this  war  should  proceed,  rather  than  recognize  any  parti 
tion,  which,  beginning  with  humiliation,  must  involve  the 
perpetuation  of  armaments,  and  break  out  again  in  blood. 
But  there  is  something  worse  than  waste  of  money  :  it  is  waste 
of  character.  Give  me  any  peace  but  a  liberticide  peace.  In 
other  days  the  immense  eloquence  of  Burke  was  stirred  against 
a  regicide  peace.  But  a  peace  founded  on  the  killing  of  a 
king  is  not  so  bad  as  a  peace  founded  on  the  killing  of  lib- 
13 


290  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

erty;  nor  can  the  saddest  scenes  of  such  a  peace  be  so  sad  as 
the  daily  life  which  is  legalized  by  slavery.  A  queen  on  the 
scaffold  is  not  so  pitiful  a  sight  as  a  woman  on  the  auction- 
block.  Therefore  I  say  again,  FORWARD  !  FORWARD  !  .  .  . 
Thus  far  we  have  been  known  chiefly  through  that  vital  force 
which  slavery  could  only  degrade,  but  not  subdue.  Now  at 
last,  by  the  death  of  slavery,  will  the  Republic  begin  to  live  ; 
for  what  is  life  without  liberty  ? 

"  Stretching  from  ocean  to  ocean,  teeming  with  population, 
bountiful  in  resources  of  all  kinds,  and  thrice  happy  in  uni 
versal  enfranchisement,  it  will  be  more  than  conqueror,  — 
nothing  too  vast  for  its  power,  nothing  too  minute  for  its  care. 
Triumphant  over  the  foulest  wrong  ever  inflicted,  after  the 
bloodiest  war  ever  waged,  it  will  know  the  majesty  of  right 
and  the  beauty  of  peace ;  prepared  always  to  uphold  the  one, 
and  to  cultivate  the  other.  Strong  in  its  own  mighty  stature, 
filled  with  all  the  fulness  of  a  new  life,  and  covered  with  a 
panoply  of  renown,  it  will  confess  that  no  dominion  is  of 
value  which  does  not  contribute  to  human  happiness.  Born  in 
this  latter  day,  and  the  child  of  its  own  struggles,  without 
ancestral  claims,  but  heir  of  all  the  ages,  it  will  stand  forth 
to  assert  the  dignity  of  man ;  and,  wherever  any  of  the  human 
family  is  to  be  succored,  there  its  voice  will  reach,  as  the  voice 
of  Cromwell  reached  across  France  even  to  the  persecuted 
mountaineers  of  the  Alps.  Such  will  be  this  republic,  — 
upstart  among  the  nations ;  ay,  as  the  steam-engine,  the  tele 
graph,  and  chloroform  are  upstart.  Comforter  and  helper  like 
these,  it  can  know  no  bounds  to  its  empire  over  a  willing 
world.  But  the  first  stage  is  the  death  of  slavery." 

The   following   tribute   to   Mr.    Sumner  for   this 
great  effort  appeared  in  "  The  National  Era." 


OF   CHABLES  SUMNER.  291 

SUMMER'S  GREAT  SPEECH. 

Immortal  utterance  of  a  noble  mind, 

Tasked  to  a  purpose  worthy  all  its  powers, 

By  nature  blest,  and  crowned  by  studious  hours, 
To  brighten  history's  page,  and  bless  mankind  ! 
Lo  !  our  dear  country's  basis,  there  defined, 

Rests  on  truth's  rock,  though  bearing  falsehood's  weight. 

Her  founders  take  the  old  heroic  state, 
While  sweep  the  clouds  of  calumny  behind. 
The  nation's  heart  exults  ;  and  all  man's  race 

Hail  their  proud  beacon,  rising  still  toward  heaven. 
Thus,  from  the  sunshine  of  our  Maker's  grace, 

In  these  earth's  latter  days,  while  passion-driven, 
We  love  upon  her  sinless  prime  to  brood, 
When  her  Creator's  voice  proclaimed  that  all  was  good  I " 
CENTKEVILLE,  Ind.,  18G3. 

Mr.  Sumner  was  this  autumn  called  to  lament  the 
death  of  his  dearly-beloved  brother  George  Sumner, 
who  died  in  Boston,  after  a  lingering  illness,  Oct. 
6,  1863,  in  his  forty-seventh  year.  He  studied 
in  Germany,  travelled  extensively  in  Europe,  Asia, 
and  Africa,  and  was  an  author  and  lecturer  of 
marked  ability.  He  resided  long  in  Paris,  and 
"  had  done  more,"  said  Baron  Humboldt,  "  to  raise 
the  literary  reputation  of  America  abroad  than  any 
other  American."  Among  other  works  he  published 
"  The  Progress  of  Reform  in  France,"  1853 ;  and 
delivered  an  oration  before  the  authorities  of  the 
city  of  Boston,  July  4,  1859.  He  was  never  mar 
ried. 


292  LIFE   AND    TIMES 

Whether  at  Washington  or  at  his  home  in  Boston, 
Mr.  Sumner  never  passed  a  day  inactively.  His 
portfolio  was  always  open ;  and  his  friends  almost 
always  found  him  engaged  in  drafting  bills,  prepar 
ing  speeches,  carrying  on  his  correspondence,  or  pro- 
tl 'icing  something  for  the  public  press.  An  elegant 
and  learned  article  from  his  ready  pen  appeared  in 
"  The  Atlantic  Monthly  "  for  November  of  this  year, 
contrasting  the  diplomatic  mission  of  Dr.  Franklin 
with  that  of  John  Slidell  at  Paris,  and  ingeniously 
tracing  the  celebrated  Latin  epigram,  "  Eripuit  coelo 
fulmen,  sceptrumque  tyrannis,"  which  was  inscribed 
on  the  portrait  of  the  great  philosopher,  to  its  origin. 
In  this  charming  essay  the  writer's  intimate  acquaint 
ance  with  the  French  literary  and  political  history  of 
that  period  appears  to  great  advantage.  The  Latin 
verse,  as  Mr.  Sumner  clearly  shows,  was  prepared  by 
the  celebrated  statesman  Turgot,  who  formed  it  from 
the  line,  u  Eripuit  fulmenque  Jovi,  Phoaboque  saggit- 
tas,"  of  the  "Anti-Lucretius,"  by  Cardinal  Melchior 
de  Polignac.  The  cardinal  derived  his  idea  from  the 
"  Astronomicon,"  an  ancient  poem  by  Marcus  Man- 
ilius,  where  the  verse  appears  under  the  following 
form,  "  Eripuitque  Jovi  fulmen,  viresque  tonandi," 
which  has  been  translated,  "  Unsceptred  Jove,  —  the 
Thunderer  disarmed." 

From  the  critical  acumen  displayed  in  this  article, 


OF   CHARLES  SUMNER.  298 

it  might  be  supposed  that  Mr.  Suraner  had  spent  his 
life  as  a  bibliophile,  amusing  himself  with  antiqua 
rian  researches,  and  the  amenities  of  literature.  He 
had,  indeed,  a  taste  for  rare  and  curious  books  and 
autographs ;  and,  in  exhibiting  his  literary  treasures 
to  his  friends,  he  would  point  with  great  delight  to  the 
Bible  which  John  Bunyan  had  in  Bedford  Jail  while 
writing  his  immortal  "  Pilgrim's  Progress ; "  to  a 
copy  of  "  Pindar,"  once  the  property  of  John  Mil 
ton  ;  to  one  of  "  Horace "  which  Philip  Melanc- 
thon  used;  to  a  Testament  of  the  dramatic  poet 
Jean  Racine ;  to  some  corrected  proof-sheets  of 
Pope's  famous  "  Essay  on  Man  ;  "  and  especially  to 
the  original  manuscript  of  Robert  Burns's  celebrated 
battle-song,  "  Scots  wha  hae  wi'  Wallace  bled  !  " 

On  the  opening  of  Congress  in  December,  Mr. 
Simmer  was  in  his  seat,  and  again  ready  for  action 
as  a  faithful  friend  and  guardian  of  the  colored  race. 
By  the  Act  of  Emancipation,  and  the  successive  vic 
tories  of  the  Union  arms,  the  chains  of  servitude 
were  gradually  breaking ;  and  the  freedrnen,  until 
now  denominated  "  contrabands,"  were  in  need  of  per 
sonal  protection,  and  the  acknowledgment  of  politi 
cal  rights.  First  and  foremost  in  their  defence,  Mr. 
Simmer  continued  to  press  upon  the  attention  of  the 
Senate,  not  yet  exempt  from  the  leaven  of  secession, 
measure  after  measure  for  the  security  of  the  free- 


294  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

dom  of  the  colored  people,  of  the  slave-territory 
occupied  or  taken  by  our  troops,  from  the  bonds 
which  still  to  some  extent  enfettered  them.  Early 
in  January,  1864,  he  presented  to  the  Senate  a  reso 
lution  for  the  appointment  of  a  committee  of  seven, 
for  the  consideration  of  "  all  papers  and  propositions 
concerning  slavery  and  the  treatment  of  freedmen." 
The  resolution  was  adopted,  and  he  himself  ap 
pointed  one  of  the  committee.  This  was  the  initia 
tory  step  in  that  body  to  his  grand  Freedmen's 
Bureau  Bill,  which  he  most  appropriately  styled  the 
"  Bridge  from  Slavery  to  Freedom,"  and  which,  after 
a  long  and  arduous  struggle,  passed  both  houses,  and 
received  on  the  third  day  of  March,  1865,  the  signa 
ture  of  the  president.  By  this  important  measure 
the  colored  people  were  protected  in  their  civil  rights 
and  privileges ;  and,  for  Mr.  Stunner's  efforts  in  car 
rying  it  through  Congress,  they  will  ever  hold  his 
name  in  grateful  memory.  On  the  ^th  of  February 
he  spoke  in  favor  of  equal  pay  to  colored  soldiers, 
saying,  "  I  wish  to  see  our  colored  troops  treated  like 
white  troops  in  every  respect ; "  and  on  the  8th  he 
introduced  to  the  Senate  a  series  of  resolutions  pro 
testing  against  the  restoration  of  any  rebel  States 
without  guarantees  in  respect  to  freedmen.  He  thus 
early  indicated  a  simple  plan  of  reconstruction  which 
after  long  debates  and  various  modifications  was 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  295 

adopted.  He  also  on  the  same  day  proposed  an 
amendment  to  the  constitution,  declaring  "  that  all 
persons  are  equal  before  the  law." 

On  the  day  following  he  presented  to  the  Senate 
the  petition  of  one  hundred  thousand  men  and 
women  for  universal  emancipation  by  an  act  of  Con 
gress. 

"  Here  they  are,"  said  he,  referring  to  the  roll  of 
names,  "  a  mighty  army,  one  hundred  thousand 
strong,  without  arms  or  banners,  —  the  advance- 
guard  of  a  larger  army." 

On  the  29th  he  laid  before  the  Senate  two  elabo 
rate  reports,  the  one  against  the  fugitive-slave  acts, 
and  the  other  against  excluding  witnesses  on  account 
of  color.  On  the  23d  of  March  he  reported  a  bill 
prohibiting  commerce  in  slaves  among  the  several 
States,  which  on  the  second  day  of  July  received  the 
signature  of  the  president,  and  thus  broke  up  the 
traffic  in  human  flesh  between  the  States. 

On  the  4th  of  April  he  made  a  long  and  able  re 
port  on  claims  on  France  for  spoliations  made  on  our 
commerce  prior  to  July  31,  1801 ;  and  on  the  8th 
he  delivered  his  great  speech,  entitled  "  No  Property 
in  Man,"  on  the  Constitutional  Amendment.  In 
this  speech  he  cites  the  following  couplet  from  Vol 
taire  as  the  origin  of  his  favorite  maxim,  "  equality 
before  the  law  :  "  — 


296  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

"  La  loi  dans  tout  ctat  doit  etre  universelle  : 

Les  mortels,  quels  qu'ils  soient,  sont  egaux  devant  elle." 

With  touching  truthfulness  he  refers  to  distin 
guished  persons  who  were  called  in  former  times  to 
drink  the  bitter  tears  of  human  servitude. 

"  How  truly  affecting  are  the  words  of  Homer  depicting  the 
M  ife  of  Hector  toiling  as  bondwoman  at  the  looms  of  her  Grecian 
master,  or  those  other  undying  words  which  exhibit  man  in 
slavery  as  shorn  of  half  his  worth !  The  story  of  Joseph  sold 
by  his  brothers  has  been  repeated  in  every  form,  touching  in 
numerable  hearts.  Borrowed  from  the  Bible,  it  figured  in  the 
moralities  of  the  middle  ages,  and  in  the  later  theatre  of 
France.  How  genius  triumphed  over  slavery  is  part  of  this 
testimony.  JGsop  the  fabulist  —  one  of  the  world's  greatest 
teachers,  if  not  lawgivers  —  was  a  slave ;  so  also  was  Phse- 
drus  the  Roman  fabulist,  whose  lessons  are  commended  by 
purity  and  elegance ;  and  so,  too,  was  Alcman  the  lyric,  who 
shed  upon  Sparta  the  grace  of  poesy.  To  these  add  Epictetus, 
sublime  in  morals ;  and  Terence,  incomparable  in  comedy, 
who  gave  to  the  world  that  immortal  verse,  which  excited  the 
applause  of  the  Roman  theatre,  '  I  am  a  man ;  and  nothing 
which  concerns  mankind  is  foreign  to  me.'  Nor  should  it  be 
forgotten  that  the  life  of  Plato  was  checkered  by  slavery." 

On  the  27th  he  spoke  in  favor  of  a  national  cur 
rency  ;  and  on  the  30th  he  opened  the  way  to  a  great 
reform  still  needed,  by  the  introduction  of  a  bill  "to 
provide  for  the  greater  efficiency  of  the  civil  ser 
vice."  In  June  following  he  took  an  active  part  in 


OP  CHARLES   SUMNEK.  297 

the  debates  on  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  Bill.  In  the 
course  of  his  remarks  he  said  :  "  The  freedmen  are 
not  idlers.  They  desire  work.  But  in  their  helpless 
condition  they  are  not  able  to  obtain  it  without  as 
sistance.  They  are  alone,  friendless,  and  uninformed. 
The  curse  of  slavery  is  still  upon  them.  Somebody 
must  take  them  by  the  hand.  .  .  .  The  intervention 
of  the  national  government  is  necessary.  Without 
such  intervention,  many  of  these  poor  people,  freed 
by  our  acts  in  the  exercise  of  a  military  necessity, 
will  be  left  to  perish.  .  .  .  Call  it  charity  or  duty, 
it  is  sacred  as  humanity." 

Yet  in  carrying  his  favorite  measure  he  was  met  at 
every  point  by  those  who  clung  with  fatal  persist 
ency  to  the  tottering  institution  of  human  servitude. 
But  the  hour  was  coming.  Following  up  the  presi 
dent's  proclamation  by  Congressional  action,  the 
friends  of  freedom,  after  many  struggles,  hard  al 
most  as  those  upon  the  battle-field,  had  the  happi 
ness  to  see  the  principles  for  which  they  so  long  and 
strenuously  contended  introduced  into  the  organic 
law. 

By  Mr.  Sumner's  senatorial  labors  above  cited, 
some  idea  may  be  had  of  his  incessant  assiduity,  and 
of  the  debt  of  gratitude  which  a  nation,  now  exult 
ing  in  the  deliverance  from  its  most  tremendous  evil, 
owes  to  his  memory. 


298  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

The  upright,  honest  heart  of  Mr.  Lincoln  could 
not  but  appreciate  the  straightfor\yard  and  persist 
ent  course  of  Mr.  Sumner ;  and  hence,  as  above 
stated,  the  relations  between  them  were  most  in 
timate  and  friendly.  Though  not  himself  a  scholar, 
Mr.  Lincoln  held  in  great  respect  the  learning  of  his 
friend,  and  heard  attentively,  though  he  did  not 
always  readily  accept,  his  political  suggestions.  The 
president's  reconstruction  policy  in  respect  to  Louis 
iana,  Mr.  Sumner  and  his  friends  adroitly  foiled, 
as  not  giving  a  sufficient  guaranty  to  the  freedmen. 
An  estrangement  naturally  followed,  which  the  public 
press  proclaimed  as  very  serious.  But  Mr.  Lincoln 
knew  the  worth  of  Mr.  Sumner ;  and,  besides,  vindic 
tive  feelings  had  no  place  in  his  great,  loving  heart. 
On  the  6th  of  March,  1865,  he  sent  the  senator  this 
card  for  the  inauguration  ball  :  — 

DEAR  MR.  SUMNER,- — Unless  you  send  me  word  to  the  con 
trary,  I  shall  this  evening  call  with  my  carnage  at  your  house, 
to  take  you  with  me  to  the  inauguration  ball. 

Sincerely.yours, 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Mr.  Sumner  accepted  the  invitation  ;  the  president 
called  for  him  with  his  carriage,  and  on  arriving  at 
the  ball-room  desired  him,  greatly  to  the  astonish 
ment  of  those  present,  to  take  the  arm  of  Mrs. 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  299 

Lincoln,  and  the  seat  of  honor.  This  was  Mr.  Lin 
coln's  method  of  terminating  personal  animosities. 

By  the  surrender  of  the  rebel  army,  under  Gen. 
Robert  E.  Lee,  to  Gen.  Grant,  April  9,  Mr.  Sumner 
saw  with  inexpressible  delight  the  Union  saved,  and 
the  chains  of  the  bondmen  rent  asunder.  But  the 
hour  of  gladness  often  changes  unexpectedly  to  the 
hour  of  sorrow.  The  joy  attendant  on  the  realiza 
tion  of  his  long-cherished  hope  of  peace  and  free 
dom  was  on  the  evening  of  the  14th  turned  to  the 
keenest  agony,  by  the  assassination  of  his  noble  and 
beloved  friend  the  president  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Sumner  attended  the  illustrious  patriot  in  his 
dying  hour;  and  none  shed  tears  more  freely  at 
the  sad  announcement,  "Abraham  Lincoln  is  no 
more." 

"  This  is  the  only  time,"  said  an  intimate  friend 
of  the  senator,  "  I  ever  saw  him  weep." 

On  the  first  day  of  June  Mr.  Sumner  delivered 
in  the  Music  Hall,  before  the  citizens  of  Boston,  a 
most  touching  and  appropriate  eulogy  on  the 
martyred  president,  portraying  his  sterling  virtues, 
and  his  services  to  the  colored  people  and  to  the  na 
tion,  in  words  of  pathos  and  of  power.  His  constant 
and  high  regard  for  the  race  whose  wrong  the  nation 
was  so  tardy  to  redress  is  seen  in  the  following  letter, 
which  he  wrote  to  Thomas  Garfield  in  respect,  to  the 


300       LIFE  AND  TIMES   OF  CHARLES   SUMNER. 

selection  of  clergymen  for  officiating  on  that  occa 
sion  :  — 

WASHINGTON,  May  6,  1865. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,  —  Do  as  you  please.  The  names  you  men 
tion  are  excellent. 

If  I  could  choose  one  it  would  be  Rev.  Mr.  Grimes,  the 
colored  preacher.  It  was  for  his  race  that  President  Lincoln, 
died.  If  Boston  adopted  him  as  chaplain  on  the  day  when  we 
mourn,  it  would  be  a  truer  homage  to  our  departed  president 
than  music  or  speech.  I  can  say  nothing  that  could  promise  to 
be  so  effective  on  earth,  or  welcome  in  heaven.  Think  of  this, 
and  believe  me,  my  dear  sir, 

Very  faithfully  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 

His  request  was  granted ;  and  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Grimes  assisted  in  the  solemn  services. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

Reconstruction.  —  The  Course  of  Andrew  Johnson.  —  Mr.  Stunner's 
Efforts  on  Behalf  of  the  Freedrnen.  —  His  Remarks  on  the 
"  Eqtiality  Bill."  —  On  the  Fourteenth  Amendment.  — His  Oppo 
sition  to  Compromise. — His  Plea  for  the  Elective  Franchise. — 
The  Death  and  Character  of  his  Mother.  — His  Marriage  and  Di 
vorce.  —  On  naming  Children.  —  Suffrage  for  Colored  People  at 
the  North.  —  Rupture  between  the  President  and  Congress.  — 
Removal  of  Mr.  Stanton.  —  Impeachment  of  the  President.  —  A 
Letter  to  Mr.  Stanton.  — Financial  Reconstruction.  — Equal  Suf 
frage.  —  The  Alabama  Claims. —The  Cubans. —The  Dominican 
Treaty.  —  Rupture  with  Gen.  Grant.  —  Displacement  of  Mr.  Suin- 
ner.  —  Speech  on  San  Domingo. 

"  The  laws,  the  rights, 

The  generous  plan  of  power,  delivered  down 
From  age  to  age  by  our  renowned  forefathers, 
So  dearly  bought,  the  price  of  so  much  blood,  — 
Oh!  let  it  never  perish  in  our  hands." 

Cato,  by  JOSEPH  ADDISON. 

"  His  public  conduct  was  such  as  might  have  been  expected  from  a  spirit 
BO  high,  and  an  intellect  so  powerful.  He  lived  at  one  of  the  most  memorable 
eras  in  the  history  of  mankind,  —  at  the  very  crisis  of  the  great  conflict  be 
tween  liberty  and  despotism,  reason  and  prejudice.  That  great  battle  was 
fought  for  no  single  generation,  for  no  single  land."  —  THOMAS  B.  MACAULAY. 

jY  the   surrender   of  the  rebel   army,  which 
was  soon  followed  by  the  capture  of  Jeffer 
son    Davis,    May   10,    1865,   the    Southern 
States,  exhausted  and  powerless,  were  ready  to  ac- 

301 


302  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

cept  any  terms  of  recognition  which  might  have 
been  presented.  This  was  a  golden  opportunity. 
Mr.  Sumner  and  other  leading  loyal  statesmen  enter 
tained  the  idea  that  Congress  had  the  right  to  prescribe 
the  conditions  of  re-admission  to  the  Union  ;  that  the 
freedmen  should  be  endowed  with  the  elective  fran 
chise,  and  be  held  in  all  respects  "  equal  before  the 
law."  "  The  just  and  honest  method  is,"  said  he, 
"  the  best."  "  A  straight  line  is  the  shortest  distance 
between  two  points  in  statesmanship,  as  well  as  in 
geometry."  Had  the  vantage-ground  been  taken  at 
the  outset,  reconstruction  and  the  establishment  of 
civil  freedom,  contemplated  in  the  president's  Act 
of  Emancipation,  would  have  been  soon  effected. 
But  Andrew  Johnson,  having  succeeded  Mr.  Lincoln 
in  the  executive  chair,  early  assumed  the  right  of 
deciding  how  the  States  recently  in  rebellion  should 
be  governed,  and  on  what  terms  they  should  be  ad 
mitted  to  the  Union.  Adopting  what  he  termed  at 
first  an  "  experiment,"  and  afterwards  "  my  policy ; " 
forgetting,  also,  that  his  province  was  to  execute,  not 
to  frame,  the  laws,  —  he  so  encouraged  the  hopes  of 
the  Southern  States,  that,  on  the  opening  of  the 
Thirty-ninth  Congress,  in  December,  1865,  a  strong 
demand  was  made  by  them  for  an  immediate  repre 
sentation  in  that  body.  This  arrogant  attempt  of  the 
seceding  States  to  regain  a  seat  in  the  national  coun- 


OF   CHAELES   SUMNEB.  803 

cils  was  sternly  met  by  loyal  Congressmen ;  and 
hence  a  disagreement  soon  arose  between  them  and  the 
president,  which  culminated  in  his  impeachment,  and 
did  not  terminate  until  his  retirement  from  the 
executive  chair. 

By  his  re-actionary  course,  the  partisans  of  slavery 
had  time  to  gather  strength ;  and  thus,  by  involving 
simple  measures  of  reconstruction  in  a  variety  of 
complications,  several  years  were  spent  in  acri 
monious  debates  upon  the  terms  of  re-adjustment. 
Mr.  Sumner  watched  intently  every  movement  com 
promising  in  the  least  the  freedom  of  the  colored 
people,  and  never  failed  to  raise  his  voice  on  their 
behalf.  He  entertained  no  feelings  of  hostility 
towards  the  South ;  he  longed  to  see  the  States  re 
stored  to  permanent  peace,  to  order  and  prosperity ; 
he  desired  to  have  them  once  more  represented  in 
the  halls  of  legislation :  still  he  strenuously  insisted 
that  Congress,  not  the  president,  should  prescribe 
the  way,  and  that  the  rights  of  the  freedmen  should 
be  faithfully  guarded  and  protected.  He  urged  with 
great  persistency  the  passage  of  the  constitutional 
amendments,  and  readily  accepted  any  temporary 
measures  that  promised  to  afford  security  to  the 
colored  race  until  these  additions  to  the  organic  law 
should  be  adopted  by  the  people.  He  maintained, 
that,  by  the  constitution  itself,  the  very  preamble 


804  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

of  which  declares  "that  all  men  are  born  equal," 
slavery  is  abolished ;  yet,  under  the  proclamation  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  Thirteenth  Amendment  (adopted, 
after  many  earnest  debates,  Dec.  18, 1865),  the  South 
still  clung  with  strange  tenacity  to  its  long-cherished 
institution :  so  deeply  had  its  roots  intwined  them 
selves  around  the  heart  of  social  life.  To  render 
the  redemption  of  the  captive  perfect,  Mr.  Sumner 
threw  himself,  with  the  full  intensity  of  his  deep 
convictions,  into  every  question  which  concerned  the 
welfare  of  the  freedman.  On  the  20th  of  December, 
1865,  he  made  an  earnest  speech  on  the  "  Equality 
Bill"  of  Mr.  Wilson,  which  was  to  "maintain  the 
freedom  of  the  inhabitants  in  the  States  declared  in 
insurrection  and  rebellion  by  the  proclamation  of 
the  president  of  July  1,  1862."  He  said,  "  When 
I  think  of  what  occurred  yesterday  in  this  chamber  ; 
when  I  call  to  mind  the  attempt  to  whitewash  the 
unhappy  condition  of  the  rebel  States,  and  to  throw 
the  mantle  of  official  oblivion  over  sickening  and 
heart-rending  outrages,  where  human  rights  are  sacri 
ficed,  and  rebel  barbarism  receives  a  new  letter  of 
license,  —  I  feel  that  I  ought  to  speak  of  nothing  else." 
This  hard  shot  upon  the  policy  of  the  president  drew 
forth  sharp  replies  ;  and  the  word  "  whitewashing  " 
long  rung  through  the  halls  of  Congress.  It  was 
the  truth  which  it  contained  that  drew  the  blood ; 
and  this  the  president  soon  came  to  realize. 


OF   CHAHLES   SUMNER.  305 

In  the  course  of  his  remarks  Mr.  Sumner  reviewed 
the  condition  of  the  freedmen  in  the  several  States, 
and  in  closing  said,  — 

"  I  bring  this  plain  story  to  a  close.  I  regret  that  I  have 
been  constrained  to  present  it.  I  wish  it  were  otherwise. 
But  I  should  have  failed  in  duty  had  I  failed  to  speak.  Not  in 
anger,  not  in  vengeance,  not  in  harshness,  have  I  spoken  ;  but 
solemnly,  carefully,  and  for  the  sake  of  my  country  and  hu 
manity,  that  peace  and  reconciliation  may  again  prevail.  I 
have  spoken  especially  for  the  loyal  citizens  who  are  now 
trodden  down  by^  rebel  power,  and  who  are  without  representa 
tion  on  this  floor.  Would  that  my  voice  could  help  them  to 
security  and  justice  !  I  can  only  state  the  case  :  it  is  for  you 
to  decide.  It  is  for  you  to  determine  how  long  these  things 
ishall  continue  to  shock  mankind.  You  have  before  you  the 
actual  condition  of  the  rebel  region :  you  have  heard  the  ter 
rible  testimony.  The  blood  curdles  at  the  thought  of  such 
enormities,  and  especially  at  the  thought  that  the  poor  freed 
men,  to  whom  we  owe  protection,  are  left  to  the  unrestrained 
will  of  such  a  people,  smarting  with  defeat,  and  ready  to  wreak 
vengeance  upon  these  representatives  of  a  true  loyalty.  In  the 
name  of  God,  let  us  protect  them!  Insist  upon  guaranties. 
Pass  the  bill  now  under  consideration;  pass  any  bill:  but  do 
not  let  this  crying  injustice  rage  any  longer.  An  avenging 
God  cannot  sleep  while-  such  things  find  countenance.  If  you 
are  not  ready  to  be  the  Moses  of  an  oppressed  people,  do  not 
become  its  Pharaoh." 

To  the  urgent  and  eloquent  utterances  of  Mr. 
Sumner  is  mainly  due  the  passage  of  the  Fourteenth 
Amendment  without  the  obnoxious  reference  to  a 


306  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

distinction  in  color,  which  the  framers  of  the  con 
stitution  took  such  pains  to  avoid.  The  joint  reso 
lution —  with  the  clause,  that,  "  whenever  the  elective 
franchise  shall  be  denied  or  abridged  in  any  State,  on 
account  of  race  or  color,  all  persons  therein  of  such 
race  or  color  shall  be  excluded  from  the  basis  of  repre 
sentation  " — had  passed  the  House  by  a  large  majority, 
and  was  favorably  entertained  by  the  Senate,  when 
Mr.  Sumner,  011  the  6th  and  7th  of  February,  and  on 
the  7th  and  9th  of  March,  1866,  in  speeches  charac 
terized  by  cogent  reasoning  and  historical  illustra 
tion,  unfolded  the  iniquity  of  the  compromise,  and 
emphatically  denounced  this  effort  to  admit  the  idea 
of  inequality  and  disfranchisement  on  account  of 
color,  into  the  constitution. 

"  After  generations  have  passed,  surrounded  by  the  light  of 
Christian  truth,  and  in  the  very  blaze  of  human  freedom,"  said 
he,  "  it  is  proposed  to  admit  into  the  constitution  the  twin 
idea  of  inequality  in  rights,  and  thus  openly  set  at  naught  the 
first  principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  the 
guaranty  of  a  republican  government  itself,  while  you  blot 
out  a  whole  race  politically.  .  .  . 

"  Who  does  not  admire  the  English  patriot  who  once  said 
that  he  would  give  his  life  to  serve  his  country,  but  he  wrould 
not  do  a  mean  thing  to  save  it  ?  I  hope  we  may  act  in  this 
spirit.  Above  all,  do  not  copy  the  example  of  Pontius  Pilate, 
who  surrendered  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  in  whom  he  found 
no  fault  at  all,  to  be  scourged  and  crucified ;  while  he  set  at 


OF   CHARLES    SUMNER.  307 

large  Barabbas,  of  whom  the  gospel   says  in  simple  words, 
'  Now,  Barabbas  was  a  robber.' " 

His  opposition  to  all  compromise  he  thus  re 
asserts  :  — 

"  I  have  fought  a  long  battle  with  slayery  ;  and  I  confess  my 
solicitude  when  I  see  any  thing  that  looks  like  concession  to  it. 
It  is  not  enough  to  show  me  that  a  measure  is  expedient :  you 
must  show  me  also  that  it  is  right.  Ah,  sir  !  can  any  thing  be 
expedient  which  is  not  right  ?  From  the  beginning  of  our  his 
tory  the  country  has  been  afflicted  with  compromise.  It  is  by 
compromise  that  human  rights  have  been  abandoned.  I  insist 
that  this  .  shall  cease.  The  country  needs  repose  after  all  its 
trials  :  it  deserves  repose.  And  repose  can  only  be  found  in 
everlasting  principles.  It  cannot  be  found  by  inserting  in  your 
constitution  the  disfranchisement  of -a  race." 

For  this  and  other  noble  pleas  on  behalf  of  the 
elective  franchise  and  the  ballot-box  for  the  freed- 
men,  they  will  hold  him,  more  than  any  other  bene 
factor,  in  heartfelt  and  dear  remembrance. 

''The  ballot  is  protector.  Perhaps,  at  the  present  moment, 
thit  is  its  highest  function.  Slavery  has  ceased  in  name ;  but 
this  is  all.  The  old  masters  still  assert  an  inhuman  power,  and 
now  by  positive "  statutes  seek  to  bind  the  freedmen  in  new 
chains.  Let  this  conspiracy  proceed  unchecked,  and  the  freed- 
man  will  be  more  unhappy  than  the  early  Puritan,  who,  seek 
ing  liberty  of  conscience,  escaped  from  the  'lords  bishops' 


308  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

only  to  fall  under  the  '  lords  elders.'     The  master  will  still  be 
master  under  another  name,  as,  according  to  Milton,  — 

'New  presbyter  is  but  old  priest  writ  large.' 

"  Serfdom  or  apprenticeship  is  slavery  in  another  guise.  To 
save  the  freedmen  from  this  tyranny,  with  all  its  accumulated 
outrage,  is  your  solemn  duty.  For  this  we  are  now  devising 
guaranties ;  but,  believe  me,  the  only  sufficient  guaranty  is 
the  ballot.  Let  the  freedman  vote,  and  he  will  have  in  him 
self  under  the  law  a  constant,  ever-present,  self-protecting 
power.  The  armor  of  citizenship  will  be  his  best  security. 
The  ballot  will  be  to  him  sword  and  buckler,  —  a  sword  with 
which  to  pierce  his  enemies,  and  a  buckler  on  which  to  receive 
their  assault.  Its  possession  alone  will  be  a  terror  and  a  de 
fence.  The  law,  which  is  the  highest  reason,  boasts  that  every 
man's  house  is  his  castle  ;  but  the  freedman  can  have  no  castle 
without  the  ballot.  When  the  master  knows  that  he  may  be 
.  voted  down,  he  will  know  that  he  must  be  just;  and  everything 
is  contained  in  justice.  The  ballot  is  like  charity,  which 
never  f  aileth,  and  without  which  man  is  only  as  sounding  brass, 
*  or  a  tinkling  cymbal.  The  ballot  is  the  one  thing  needful, 
without  which  rights  of  testimony  and  all  other  rights  will  be 
no  better  than  cobwebs  which  the  master  will  break  through 
with  impunity.  To  him  who  has  the  ballot  all  other  things  shall 
be  given, — protection,  opportunity,  education,  a  homestead. 
The  ballot  is  like  the  horn  of  abundance,  out  of  which  over 
flow  rights  of  every  kind,  with  corn,  cotton,  rice,  and  rc  "1  the 
fruits  of  the  earth ;  or,  better  still,  it  is  like  the  hand  c.  f  the 
body,  without  which  man,  who  is  now  only  a  little  lower  than 
the  angels,  must  have  continued  only  a  little  above  the  brutes. 
We  are  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made ;  but,  as  is  the  hand  in 


OF  CHARLES   SUMNER.  309 

the  work  of  civilization,  so  is  the  ballot  in  the  work  of  govern 
ment.  '  Give  me  the  ballot,  and  I  can  move  the  world,'  may  be 
the  exclamation  of  the  race  still  despoiled  of  this  right. 
There  is  nothing  which  it  cannot  open  with  almost  fabulous 
power,  like  that  golden  mistletoe,  offshoot  of  the  sturdy  oak, 
which,  in  the  hands  of  the  classical  adventurer,  unclosed  the 
regions  of  another  world ;  and,  like  that  golden  bough,  it  is 
renewed  as  it  is  used :  — 

One  plucked  away,  a  second  branch  you  see 
Shoot  forth  ill  gold,  and  glitter  from  the  tree.' 

"  If  I  press  these  illustrations,  it  is  only  that  I  may  bring 
home  to  your  minds  that  supreme  efficacy  which  cannot  be  ex 
aggerated.  Though  simple  in  character,  there  is  nothing  the 
ballot  cannot  accomplish ;  like  that  homely  household  lamp  in 
Arabian  story,  which,  at  the  call  of  its  possessor,  evoked  a 
spirit  who  did  all  things,  from  the  building  of  a  palace  to  the 
rocking  of  a  cradle,  and  filled  the  air  with  an  invisible  pres 
ence.  But  it  is  as  protector  that  it  is  of  immeasurable  power, 
like  a  fifteen-inch  columbiad  pointed  from  a  monitor.  Ay,  sir, 
the  ballot  is  the  columbiad  of  our  political  life;  and  every 
citizen  who  has  it  is  a  full- armed  monitor. 

"  Having  pleaded  for  the  freedman,  I  now  plead  for  the 
Republic ;  for  to  each  alike  the  ballot  is  a  necessity.  It  is  idle 
to  expect  any  true  peace  while  the  freedman  is  robbed  of  this 
transcendent  right,  and  left  a  prey  to  that  vengeance  which  is 
ready  to  wreak  upon  him  the  disappointment  of  defeat.  The 
country,  sympathetic  with  him,  will  be  in  a  condition  of  per 
petual  unrest.  With  him  it  will  suffer ;  and  with  him  alone 
can  it  cease  to  suffer.  Only  through  him  can  you  redress  the 
balance  of  our  political  system,  and  assure  the  safety  of 


310  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

patriot  citizens.  Only  through  him  can  you  save  the  national 
debt  from  the  inevitable  repudiation  \vhich  awaits  it  when 
recent  rebels  in  conjunction  with  Northern  allies  once  more 
bear  sway.  lie  is  our  best  guaranty :  use  him.  He  was 
once  your  fellow-soldier  :  he  has  always  been  your  fellow-man. 
If  he  was  willing  to  die  for  the  Republic,  he  is  surely  good 
enough  to  vote;  and,  now  that  he  is  ready  to  uphold  the 
Republic,  it  will  be  madness  to  reject  him.  Had  he  voted 
originally,  the  acts  of  secession  must  have  failed :  treason 
would  have  been  voted  down.  You  owe  this  tragical  war,  and 
the  debt  now  fastened  upon  the  country,  to  the  denial  of  this 
right.  Vacant  chairs  in  once  happy  homes,  innumerable 
graves,  saddened  hearts,  mothers,  fathers,  wives,  sisters,  broth 
ers,  all  mourning  lost  ones,  the  poor  now  ground  by  a  taxation 
they  had  never  known  before,  all  testify  against  that  injustice 
by  which  the  present  freedman  was  not  allowed  to  vote.  Had  he 
voted,  there  would  have  been  peace.  If  he  votes  now  there  will 
be  peace.  Without  this  you  must  have  a  standing  army,  which 
is  a  sorry  substitute  for  justice.  Before  you  is  the  plain  alter 
native  of  the  ballot-box  or  the  cartridge-box :  choose  ye  be 
tween  them.  .  .  . 

"The  Roman  Cato,"  said  he,  "after  declaring  his  belief  in 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  added,  that,  if  this  was  an  error,  it 
was  an  error  which  he  loved.  And  now,  declaring  my  belief 
in  liberty  and  equality  as  the  God-given  birthright  of  all  men, 
let  me  say  in  the  same  spirit,  if  this  be  an  error,  it  is  an  error 
which  I  love ;  if  this  be  a  fault,  it  is  a  fault  which  I  shall  be 
slow  to  renounce;  if  this  be  an  illusion,  it  is  an  illusion  which 
I  pn y  may  wrap  the  world  in  its  angelic  forms." 

Thus  would  Mr.  Simmer,  on  the  principle  that 
the  State  had  ceased  to  be  in  practical  relations 


OF   CHARLES    SUMNEB.  311 

with  the  Union,  and  that  Congress  had  the  power 
of  reconstruction,  press  the  advantage  which  the 
Union  arms  had  won  to  the  upraising  of  the 
colored  people.  He  intended  that  "  every  drop  of 
American  blood  that  was  shed  should  surely  be 
consecrated  to  human  freedom ; "  and  he  soon  had 
the  satisfaction  to  see  his  long  and  perilous  efforts 
realized  in  the  passage  of  the  Fourteenth  and  Fif 
teenth  Amendments  to  the  Constitution,  sweeping 
the  baneful  and  degrading  system  of  slavery  away, 
and  bringing  a  long  and  heavily  oppressed  people  to 
enjoy  the  right  of  the  elective  franchise. 

In  June  of  this  year  (1866)  Mr.  Sumner  came 
home  to  stand  by  the  bedside  and  receive  the  parting 
benediction  of  his  dying  mother.  She  had  attained 
the  age  of  more  than  fourscore  years,  and  had  experi 
enced  many  trials  and  afflictions,  which  she  bore  with 
womanly  fortitude,  and  retained  something  of  earlier 
grace  and  beauty  to  the  last.  "  She  was  tall  and 
stately,"  said  one  who  knew  her  well,  "  with  the  old- 
school  dignity  of  manner;  and,  if  thought  distant, 
you  soon  forgot,  in  her  genial  friendliness  and  evi 
dent  superiority  of  mind,  every  thing  except  that 
she  was  one  of  the  most  admirable  of  women." 
When  urged  in  her  last  illness  to  send  for  her  son, 
she  replied  that  his  country  had  more  need  of  his 
services  than  she,  and  that  he  had  better  remain  at 


312.  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

Washington.  He  came,  however,  and  stood  beside 
her  when  she  passed  away.  Returning  from  her 
grave,  he  bowed  his  head  in  the  loneliness  of  sorrow, 
and  exclaimed,  "  I  have  now  no  home  !  " 

The  summer  was  spent  in  revising  his  speeches 
for  the  press,  and  in  making  preparations  for  the 
coming  conflict  in  the  re-establishment  of  order  in 
the  Southern  States. 

On  the  twenty-seventh  day  of  October  he  was 
united  in  marriage,  by  the  Eight  Rev.  Bishop  Manton 
Eastburn,  with  Mrs.  Alice  (Mason)  Hooper,  the 
widow  of  Mr.  William  Sturgis  Hooper,  and 
daughter  of  Mr.  Jonathan  Mason  of  Boston.  This 
alliance,  owing  to  disparity  of  age  and  taste,  was 
infelicitous ;  and  a  divorce  was  decreed  May  10, 
1873,  by  Judge  Holt  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Mas 
sachusetts.  By  this  circumstance  the  friendly  rela 
tions  between  Mr.  Sunnier  and  the  Hon.  Samuel 
Hooper,  father-in-law  of  Mrs.  Sumner,  Avere  in  no 
respect  disturbed. 

In  regard  to  naming  children  after  great  men,  Mr. 
Sumner  wrote  this  pleasant  and  sensible  letter  to  a 
father  in  New  York  who  proposed  to  call  his  son 
Charles  Sumner :  — 

"  MY  DEAR ,  —  Don't  make  a  mistake.     Never  name  a 

child  after  a  living  man.  This  is  the  counsel  I  give  always,  and 
most  sincerely.  Who  kno\vs  that  I  may  not  fall  ?  I,  too,  may 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  313 

grow  faint,  or  may  turn  aside  to  false  gods.  I  hope  not ;  but 
this  is  one  of  the  mysteries  of  tlje  future.  Therefore  name 
your  boy  some  good  Christian  name  (it  may  be  Charles,  if 
you  will ;  for  that  is  general)  ;  but  do  not  compel  him  to  bear 
all  his  days  a  label  which  he  may  dislike.  I  once  met  a  strong 
anti-slavery  youth  who  bore  the  name  of  Martin  Van  'Buren. 
He  was  born  while  New  York  sat  in  the  presidential  chair  ;  and 
his  father  named  him  after  the  chief  of  the  land.  But  the 
youth  did  not  find  the  sentiments  of  the  late  Mr.  Van  Buren 
such  as  he  wished  to  be  associated  with. 

"  Ever  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER." 

Steadily  intent  on  the  elevation  of  the  African 
race,  Mr.  Sumner  made  in  the  Senate,  July  12,  1867, 
a  powerful  plea  for  securing  the  elective  franchise  to 
the  colored  citizens  of  the  North. 

"  How  can  you  look  the  rebel  States  in  the  face,"  said  he, 
"  when  you  have  required  colored  suffrage  of  them,  and  failed  to 
require  it  in  the  other  States  ?  Be  just :  require  it  in  the  loyal 
States,  as  you  have  required  it  in  the  rebel  States.  .  .  .  There 
is  a  clause  in  the  constitution  directing  you  to  guarantee  a 
republican  form  of  government.  It  is  a  clause  which  is  like  a 
sleeping  giant  in  the  constitution,  never  until  this  recent  war 
awakened ;  but  now  it  comes  forward  with  a  giant's  power. 
There  is  no  clause  in  the  constitution  like  it.  There  is  no 
clause  which  gives  to  Congress  such  a  supreme  power  over  the 
States  as  that  clause.  Then,  as  I  have  already  said,  you  have 
the  two  other  clauses.  Your  power  under  the  constitution  is 
complete.  It  is  not  less  beneficial  than  complete.  .  .  .  Regard 


314  LIFE   AND    TIMES 

it  as  the  completion  of  these  reconstruction  measures  :  regard 
it  as  a  constitutional  enactment." 

The  rupture  between  Congress  and  the  president, 
who  had  vainly  endeavored  to  prevent  the  enact 
ment  of  the- second  Freedmen's-Bureau  Bill  (passed, 
over  his  veto,  July  16,  1866),  and  who  had  at  every 
point  opposed  the  reconstruction  measures  of  the 
Republicans,  continued  to  widen,  until  his  suspension 
of  E.  M.  Stanton,  the  indefatigable  secretary  of  war, 
when  measures  were  instituted  for  his  impeachment. 
In  these  proceedings  Mr.  Sumner,  always  vigilant 
lest  the  rights  of  the  Senate  should  be  invaded,  ac 
tively  participated.  He  prepared  several  elaborate 
papers  on  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  president, 
and  made  the  point  that  the  chief-justice  had  no 
right  to  vote  in  the  trial.  Mr.  Sumner  voted  on 
almost  every  count  against  the  president.  Mr. 
Stanton  was  re-instated  by  the  Senate  Jan.  14,  1868, 
under  the  Tenure-of-Office  Bill  (passed  March  2, 1867, 
over  Mr.  Johnson's  veto).  The  president,  however, 
soon  again  removed  him,  appointing  Gen.  Lorenzo 
Thomas  in  his  place  ad  interim,  when  Mr.  Covode 
introduced  into  the  house  the  resolution  of  impeach 
ment.  While  Mr.  Stanton  was  remaining  in  sus 
pense  concerning  his  own  course  of  action,  Mr. 
Sumner  sent  to  him  this  epigrammatic  letter,  which 
in  point  of  brevity  surpasses  even  Caesar's  celebrated 
."  Veni,  vidi)  vici" 


OF  CHARLES   STJMNER.  315 

"SENATE  CHAMBER,  21st  February,  1868. 
STICK. 

Ever  sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 
Hon.  E.  M.  STANTON." 

On  the  acquittal  of  the  president  in  May  follow 
ing,  Mr.  Stanton  resigned  his  office.  On  the  llth 
of  July  Mr.  Sumner  spoke  at  length  against  the 
president's  scheme  of  repudiation,  and  in  favor  of 
completing  reconstruction  through  public  faith  and 
specie  payment.  "  The  word  of  our  nation,"  said 
he,  "must  be  as  good  as  its  bond."  He  strongly 
urged  economy ;  and,  on  the  principle  that  State 
affairs  should  be  conducted  on  the  line  of  uncom 
promising  and  eternal  justice,  said, — 

"  I  call  your  attention  to  three  things  in  which  all  others 
centre.  The  first  is  the  public  faith  ;  the  second  is  the  public 
faith ;  the  third  is  the  public  faith.  Let  these  be  sacredly 
preserved,  and  there  is  nothing  of  power  or  fame  which  can  be 
wanting.  All  things  will  pay  tribute  to  you,  even  from  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  sea.  All  the  sheaves  will  stand  about, 
as  in  the  dream  of  Joseph,  and  make  obeisance  to  your  sheaf. 
Good  people,  especially  all  concerned  in  business,  whether 
commerce,  banking,  or  labor,  —  our  own  compatriots  or  the 
people  of  other  lands,  —  will  honor  and  uphold  the  nation 
which,  against  all  temptations,  keeps  its  word." 

Although  reconstruction,  by  the  passage  of  bills 
over  the  president's  veto,  for  the  admission  of  all 


816  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

but  three  of  the  rebel  States,  had  been  virtually 
concluded  at  this  session  of  Congress,  Mr.  Sumner 
said  he  should  not  consider  the  work  completed 
until  he  saw  a  colored  member  in  the  Senate. 
During  the  presidential  campaign  of  this  year  he 
favored  the  election  of  Gen.  Grant,  although  he 
believed  a  better  nomination  might  have  been  made. 
On  the  3d  of  February,  1869,  he  strongly  advo 
cated  in  the  Senate  the  enactment  of  a  law  by  Con 
gress  for  equal  suffrage  in  opposition  to  the  con 
stitutional  amendment. 

"  Why  amend,"  said  he,  "  what  is  already  sufficient  V  Why 
er.ect  a  supernumerary  column  ?  .  .  .  Let  this  beneficent  pro 
hibition  once  find  a  place  in  our  statute-book,  and  it  will  be  as 
lasting  as  the  national  constitution  itself,  to  which  it  will  be 
only  a  legitimate  corollary.  .  .  .  Once  adopted,  it  will  go  into 
instant  operation,  without  waiting  for  the  uncertain  concur 
rence  of  State  legislatures,  and  without  provoking  local  strife, 
so  wearisome  to  the  country.  The  States  will  not  be  turned 
into  political  caldrons;  and  the  Democratic  party  will  have  no 
pudding-stick  with  which  to  stir  the  bubbling  mass." 

The  bill  for  the  amendment,  however,  prevailed ; 
and  the  African  race  was  thus  constitutionally  re 
stored  to  the  political  privileges  of  American  citizen 
ship.  To  the  achievement  of  this  grand  result,  no 
one  contributed  more  of  eloquence,  statesmanship,  or 
personal  effort  than  Charles  Sumner ;  and  by  the 


OF   CHARLES    SUMNER.  317 

liberated  millions  no  name  on  earth  is  more  revered. 
"  If  others  forget  thee,"  said  Robert  B.  Elliott  of 
South  Carolina,  "  thy  fame  shall  be  guarded  by  the 
millions  of  that  emancipated  race  whose  gratitude 
shall  be  more  enduring  than  the  monumental 
marble."  By  Mr.  Sumner's  remarkable  speech 
early  in  1869,  on  "  The  Alabama  "  claims,  which  he 
undoubtedly  over-estimated,  and  which  led  to  the 
rejection  by  the  Senate  of  the  Clarendon-Johnson 
treaty,  he  somewhat  endangered  our  friendly  rela 
tions  with  England,  and  was  severely  criticised  by 
the  English  press ;  yet  his  design  was  not  so  much 
to  obtain  heavy  damages,  as  to  exhibit  the  wrong 
done  by  England  in  furnishing  that  vessel  to  the 
rebels,  and  also  the  underlying  principles  of  inter 
national  law,  by  which  sovereign  states  in  their 
intercourse  with  each  other  ought  always  to  be 
guided.  He  subsequently  used  his  influence  in 
securing  the  consent  of  the  Senate  to  the  treaty  of 
Washington,  by  which  an  award  of  less  considera 
tion  was  secured. 

In  the  following  year  Mr.  Sumner  pressed  upon 
the  attention  of  the  Senate  the  importance  of  estab 
lishing  colored  schools  at  the  South,  of  striking  out 
the  word  "white"  in  the  naturalization  bill,  of  the 
odious  income-tax  from  the  tariff  bill,  and  of  redu 
cing  letter-postage.  He  also,  June  23,  reported  a 


318  LIFE    AND    TIMES 

series  of  resolutions  expressing  warm  and  judicious 
sympathy  with  the  Cubans,  tfyen  suffering  outrages 
from  the  collision  between  the  insurgents  and  the 
Spanish  government ;  but  his  most  remarkable  effort 
was  in  opposition  to  the  president's  Dominican 
treaty.  Mr.  Sunnier  no  doubt  honestly  believed 
that  the  scheme  of  annexing  the  Republic  of  San 
Domingo  to  the  United  States  was  advocated  by  the 
administration  and  its  supporters,  not  for  the  benefit 
of  the  people  of  that  island,  but  for  the  enrichment 
of  certain  speculators  ;  and  he  most  frankly,  perhaps 
too  sharply,  avowed  his  opinions  on  the  subject. 
During  the  discussion  of  this  measure,  the  severity 
of  his  criticism  on  the  course  of  the  president,  whom 
he  believed  to  act  as  an  imperialist,  bestowing  undue 
favors  on  his  special  friends,  led,-  in  combination 
with  other  causes,  to  a  rupture  between  him  and  the 
chief-executive.  The  tempers  and  habits  of  these 
distinguished  men  were  totally  unlike.  There  was 
no  great  love  between  them  in  the  beginning ;  and, 
if  I  may  change  an  expression  of  Shakspeare,  it 
decreased  on  better  acquaintance.  The  effects  of 
the  cruel  blow  received  by  Mr.  Sumner  in  1856  were 
still  remaining ;  and,  as  they  disturbed  the  functions  of 
his  physical  frame,  so  they  had,  undoubtedly,  some  in 
fluence  on  his  intellectual  temper.  On  account  of  the 
opposition  to  his  annexation  scheme,  and  perhaps 


OF   CHARLES    SUMNER.  319 

for  some  other  reasons,  Gen.  Grant,  against  the 
advice  of  many  of  his  supporters,  removed  in  1870, 
from  his  place  as  minister  to  England,  Mr.  J.  L. 
Motley,  the  historian,  and  an  intimate  friend  of  Mr. 
Sumner.  In  a  letter  to  the  president,  dated  July 
5,  1870,  Mr.  Wilson  said  in  regard  to  the  displace 
ment  of  Mr.  Motley,  "  I  fear  you  will  make  a  sad 
mistake  if  you  remove  him ;  and  I  beg  you  to  con 
sider  the  case  carefully  before  acting.  His  removal 
is  believed  to  be  aimed  at  Mr.  Sumner.  Right  or 
wrong,  this  will  be  the  construction  put  upon  it. 
Can  you,  my  dear  sir,  afford  to  have  such  an  impu 
tation  rest  upon  your  administration?  Mr.  Motley 
is  one  of  the  best  known  and  most  renowned  of  our 
countrymen.  ...  I  need  not  say  that  they  (the 
men  of  Massachusetts)  are  surprised  at  the  rumor 
that  he  is  to  be  removed.  They  are  pained  to  have 
it  said  that  his  removal  is  on  account  of  Mr.  Sum- 
ner's  opposition  to  the  San-Domingo  treaty.  His 
removal  will  be  regarded  by  the  Republicans  of 
Massachusetts  as  a  blow  not  only  at  him,  but  at  Mr. 
Sumner.  ...  I  want  to  see  the  President  and  Con 
gress  in  harmony,  and  the  Republican  party  united 
and  victorious.  To  accomplish  this,  we  must  all  be 
just,  charitable,  and  forgiving. 

"  Very  truly, 

u  HENRY  WILSON." 


320  LIFE   AND    TIMES 

In  February,  1871,  Mr.  Sumner  was  supplanted  as 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  by 
Simon  Cameron.  He  had  long  fulfilled  the  duties 
attendant  on  this  position  with  distinguished  ability ; 
and  no  man  in  this  country  was  better  acquainted 
with  foreign  affairs,  or  held  in  higher  consideration 
by  foreign  courts.  But  he  and  the  president  were 
at  variance. 

On  the  27th  of  March,  1871,  he  again  spoke  on 
the  San-Domingo  treaty. 

"  On  evidence  before  the  Senate,"  said  he,  "  it  is  plain  that 
the  navy  of  the  United  States,  acting  under  orders  from  Wash 
ington,  has  been  engaged  in  measures  of  violence,  and  of  belli 
gerent  intervention,  being  war  without  the  authority  of  Congress. 
An  act  of  war  without  the  authority  of  Congress  is  no  common 
event.  This  is  the  simplest  statement  of  the  case.  The  whole 
business  is  aggravated  when  it  is  considered  that  the  declared 
object  of  this  violence  is  the  acquisition  of  foreign  territory, 
being  half  an  island  in  the  Caribbean  Sea ;  and,  still  further, 
that  this  violence  has  been  employed,  first,  to  prop  and  main 
tain  a  weak  ruler,  himself  a  usurper,  upholding  him  in  power 
that  he  might  sell  his  country ;  and,  secondly,  it  has  been  em 
ployed  to  menace  the  Black  Republic  of  Hayti." 

He  denounced  Baez  as  a  usurper  who  would  sell 
his  country,  and  said  that  the  treaty  was  a  violation 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  as  well  as 
of  that  of  San  Domingo.  On  the  ensuing  day  Mr. 


OF    CHARLES    SUMNER.  321 

Howe  replied  to  Mr.  Sumner,  defending  Baez ;  and 
he  insinuated,  in  conclusion,  that  Mr.  Sumner,  Judas- 
like,  was  trying  to  stab  the  Republican  party  in  the 
back. 

Replying  to  Mr.  Howe,  Carl  Schurz  in  a  very 
brilliant  speech  said,  "  Mr.  Sumner  had  plunged 
his  dagger,  not  into  the  Republican  party,  but  into 
Csesarism  ;  and  we  cannot  forget  that  the  world  has 
agreed  to  pronounce  Brutus  the  noblest  Roman  of 
them  all." 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

The  Supplementary  Civil-Rights  Bill.  —  A  Letter  on  the  San-Domin 
go  Affair.  — The  Tone  of  Mr.  Sumner's  Criticisms  on  the  Admin 
istration. — His  Illness. — His  View  of  the  Republican  and 
Democratic  Parties.  —  Letter  to  Colored  Citizens.  —  Support  of 
Mr.  Greeley.  —  Reception  in  Boston.  —  Visit  to  Europe.  —  Nomi 
nation  as  Governor  of  Massachusetts. — Resolutions  on  the  Bat 
tle-Flags.  —  Letters  in  Vindication  of  his  Course.  —  Interviews 
with  Friends.  —  His  Desire  to  raise  Money  by  Lecturing.  —  His 
last  Visit  to  Boston. — Declining  Health.  —  His  Last  Labors  in 
Congress. — Recision  of  the  Censure  for  liis  Resolution  on  the 
Battle-Flags. 

"Let  us  have  faith  that  right  makes  might;  and  in  that  faith  let  tis  to  the 
end  dare  to  do  our  duty  as  we  understand  it."  — ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

"  La  verite,  voiia  mon  offrande  che'rie. 

Loin  de  toi  pour  jamais  le  vil  encens  des  cours ; 
Flatter  le  souverain,  c'est  trahir  la  patrie, 
C'est  du  bonheur  public  empoisonner  le  cours." 

P.  D.  E.  LEBRUN. 

"A  great  man  under  the  shadow  of  defeat  is  taught  how  precious  are  the 
uses  of  adversity ;  and,  as  an  oak-tree's  roots  are  strengthened  by  its  shadow, 
so  all  defeats  in  a  good  cause  are  but  resting-places  on  the  road  to  victory  at 
last."  —  CHARLES  SUMXER. 

)N  the  twelfth  day  of  May,  1870,  Mr.  Sunnier, 
ever  intent  on  the  uplifting  of  the  colored 
citizen,  introduced  his  supplementary  Civil- 
Rights  Bill,  declaring  that  all  persons,  without  regard 


CHARLES    StTMNEB.  323 

to  race  or  color,  are  entitled  to  equal  privileges 
afforded  by  railroads,  steamboats,  hotels,  places  of 
amusement,  institutions  of  learning,  religion,  and 
courts  of  law.  The  same  bill  substantially  was  in 
troduced  by  him  again  Jan.  20,  1871. 

"  Show  me,"  said  he,  in  speaking  on  this  measure,  "  any 
thing  created  or  regulated  by  law,  and  I  show  you  what  must  be 
opened  equally  to  all  without  distinction  of  color.  Notori 
ously,  the  hotel  is  a  legal  institution,  originally  established  by 
the  common  law,  subject  to  minute  provisions  and  regulations ; 
notoriously,  public  conveyances  are,  in  the  nature  of  common 
carriers,  subject  to  a  law  of  their  own  ;  notoriously,  schools 
are  public  institutions,  created  and  maintained  by  law  ;  and 
now  I  simply  insist  that  in  the  enjoyment  of  those  institutions 
there  shall  be  no  exclusion  on  account  of  color." 

His  maxim  was,  "  Equality  of  rights  is  the  first  of 
rights  ; "  and  his  whole  life  was  but  one  glorious 
struggle  to  reduce  the  principle  of  the  old  Magna 
Charta,  "  Nulli  negabimus,  nulli  differ  emus  justi- 
tiam"  into  practical  operation.  His  views  in  re 
spect  to  the  course  of  the  administration  in  the  San- 
Domingo  affair  may  be  seen  in  this  letter :  — 

WASHINGTON,  9th  July,  1871. 

My  DEAR  REDPATH,  —  Your  letter  must  have  crossed  mine. 
I  send  you  this  French  translation  of  the  Report.  I  cannot 
obtain  the  P^nglish. 


324  LIFE    AND   TIMES 

The  president's  friends  were  afraid  to  propose  the  printing 
of  extra  copies,  as  that  would  have  opened  the  whole  question  : 
so  that  only  the  ordinary  number  for  the  Senate  was  printed. 

Meanwhile,  I  hear  that  the  dementia  continues.  The  flag  of 
Samana  still  flies  without  authority;  and  money  has  beer, 
obtained  at  New  York  to  pay  another  year's  lease.  Here  is 
usurpation.  The  treaty  is  dead  :  it  died  by  lapse  four  months 
from  date  ;  yet  under  this  dead  treaty  the  flag  flies,  and  the 
United  States  are  asked  to  pay  money.  Nothing  like  this  was 
in  the  articles  against  A.  J. 

Very  truly  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 

If  the  tone  of  his  criticisms,  especially  in  his  sup 
pressed  speech  of  March,  1871,  on  the  administra 
tion,  be  considered  too  severe,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  he  was  a  mortal  ;  that  his  system  had  been 
shattered  by  a  tremendous  blow ;  that  the  removal 
of  himself,  and  his  intimate  friend  Mr.  Motley, 
from  positions  which  they  were  so  eminently  quali 
fied  to  fill,  was  another  heavy  blow ;  and  that  he 
honestly  believed  that  favoritism  and  corruption 
had  entered  the  very  heart  of  that  grand  old  Repub 
lican  party  of  which  he  had  been,  to  a  great  extent, 
the  founder  and  the  leader.  After  the  delivery  of  his 
great  speech,  on  the  last  day  of  February,  1872,  in 
support  of  his  resolution  demanding  an  investiga 
tion  of  the  sales  of  ordnance  stores  made  during  the 
war  between  France  and  Germany,  the  return  of  his 


OF    CHARLES    SUMNER.  325 

old  malady  rendered  it  imperative  that  he  should 
cease  a  while  from  mental  labor.  He  returned, 
however,  to  the  Senate  in  May,  and  made,  on  the 
last  day  of  that  month,  a  memorable  speech,  in 
which  he  declared  his  loss  of  confidence  in  the  Re 
publican  party,  and  severely  'criticised  the  course  of 
Gen.  Grant. 

•'  Both  the  old  parties,"  said  he,  "  are  in  a  crisis,  with  this 
diff erence  between  the  two,  —  the  Democracy  is  dissolving,  the 
Republican  party  is  being  absorbed.  The  Democracy  is  fall 
ing  apart,  thus  losing  its  vital  unity  :  the  Republican  party  is 
submitting  to  a  personal  influence,  thus  visibly  losing  its  vital 
character.  The  Democracy  is  ceasing  to  exist:  the  Republi 
can  party  is  losing  its  identity.  Let  the  process  be  completed, 
and  it  will  be  no  longer  that  Republican  party  which  I  helped 
to  found,  and  always  served,  but  only  a  personal  party ;  while, 
instead  of  those  ideas  and  principles  which  we  have  been  so 
proud,  to  uphold,  will  be  presidential  pretensions  ;  and  instead 
of  Republicanism,  there  will  be  nothing  but  Grantism.  Po 
litical  parties  are  losing  their  sway.  Higher  than  party  are 
country,  and  the  duty  to  save  it  from  Caesar.'' 

This  address  was  used  as  a  campaign  document. 
For  several  weeks  subsequent  to  the  presidential 
nominations,  he  remained  reticent  in  regard  to  the 
two  candidates ;  but  on  the  29th  of  July,  in  a  letter 
to  the  colored  citizens,  he  announced  his  intention 
of  abandoning  the  Republican  party,  and  of  sup- 


326  LIFE    AND    TIMES 

porting-    Mr.    Greeley   for   the   presidency.     In  this 
letter  he  said,  — 

"  Never  have  I  asked  for  punishment.  Most  anxiously 
I  have  looked  for  the  time,  which  seems  now  at  hand,  when 
there  shall  be  reconciliation,  not  only  between  North  and 
South,  but  between  the  two  races ;  so  that  the  two  races  and 
the  two  sections  may  be  lifted  from  the  ruts  and  grooves  in 
which  they  are  now  fastened,  and,  instead  of  irritating  antag 
onism  without  end,  there  shall  be  sympathetic  co-operation. 
The  existing  differences  ought  to  be  ended." 

His  health  did  not  allow  him  to  take  an  active 
part  in  the  canvass ;  but  returning  to  Boston,  where 
he  was  branded  by  some  of  his  old  political  compan 
ions  as  an  "  apostate,"  and  deserted  by  many  of  his 
former  anti-slavery  coadjutors,  —  especially  by  Mr. 
Garrison,  who  addressed  to  him  a  trenchant  letter  on 
his  defection  from  his  party, — he  spent  some  days 
with  H.  W.  Longfellow  at  Lynn,  and  on  the  5th  of 
September  left  for  Europe.  On  his  arrival  in  Liv 
erpool,  he  received  the  news  of  his  nomination  by 
the  Liberals  and  Democrats  as  governor  of  Massa 
chusetts.  This  honor  he  declined.  He  met  with  a 
cordial  reception  both  in  England  and  in  France, 
and  had  interviews  with  Thiers  and  Gambetta  ;  but 
his  health  was  so  much  impaired,  that  his  time  was 
mostly  occupied  in  looking  over  engravings  and 
other  works  of  art.  "  I  have  not  read  an  American 


OF    CHARLES    SUMNBR.  327 

newspaper,"  said  he,  writing  from  London,  "  since  I 
sailed  out  of  Boston  Harbor ;  nor  have  I  concerned 
myself  except  with  engravings,  pictures,  books,  and 
society." 

He  reached  home  on  the  26th  of  November, 
and  was  present  in  his  seat  at  the  opening  of  Con 
gress,  Dec.  18,  when  he  introduced  into  the  Senate 
a  resolution  declaring  "  that  the  names  of  battles 
with  our  fellow-citizens  shall  not  be  continued  in 
the  army-register,  or  placed  upon  the  regimental 
colors  of  the  United  States." 

A  resolution  of  censure  was  immediately  passed 
by  the  General  Court  of  this  State,  declaring  "  that 
such  legislation  meets  the  unqualified  condemnation 
of  the  people  of  this  Commonwealth." 

No  man  honored  more  than  Mr.  Sumner  the  brav 
ery  of  the  loyal  troops ;  but,  as  soon  as  the  contest 
ended,  no  man  more  than  he  desired  a  speedy  resto 
ration  of  harmony  and  peace  :  as  early  as  May,  1862, 
he  had  introduced  a  similar  resolution.  He  there 
fore  was  deeply  aggrieved  at  the  ill-advised  censure 
of  the  State  he  represented.  In  this  letter  to  his 
friend  James  Kedpath,  he  declares  his  anxiety  for 
strength  to  sustain  his  resolution:  — 

WASHINGTON,  25tliDec.,  1872. 

MY  DEAR  REDPATH,  —  I  wish  you  a  merry  Christmas  !  I 
regret  much  that  I  cannot  take  advantage  of  your  iuvita- 


328  LIFE    AND    TIMES 

tion ;  but  I  am  under  medical  treatment,  with  the  doctor  at 
my  house  twice  a  day,  the  last  time  to  inject  under  the  skin 
morphine  and  strychnine.  This  vacation  I  give  to  the  doctor 
reluctantly  but  necessarily.  I  long  to  be  strong,  that  I  may 
vindicate  my  resolution,  which  can  be  done  against  all  assault. 
Twice  before  have  I  offered  it  with  the  applause  of  Gen.  Scott 

and  Gen.  Robert  Anderson. 

Faithfully  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 

The  following  letter  to  Mr.  T.  A.  Smith  also 
exhibits  his  feelings  on  the  battle-flag  resolution :  — 

WASHINGTON,  27th  Dec.,  1872. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,  —  I  thank  you  sincerely  for  the  kind,  good 
letter  you  have  written  me.  Never  did  I  deserve  better  of  Mas 
sachusetts  than  now ;  for  never  did  I  represent  so  completely 
that  high  civilization  which  is  the  pride  of  our  beloved  Com 
monwealth.  Thrice  before,  once  in  1862,  I  offered  the  same 
proposition.  I  received  the  applause  of  Gen.  Scott  and  Gen. 
Robert  Anderson.  Accept  my  best  wishes,  and  believe  me,  my 
dear  sir,  Sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 

To  his  old  college  friend  the  Hon.  G.  W.  War 
ren,  who  visited  him  in  January,  1873,  he  said, 
u  Since  the  assault  upon  me  in  1856,  I  have  never 
been  entirely  well ;  and  just  now  I  am  feeling  the 
painful  effects  more  than  usual."  At  that  time 
Chief-Justice  Chase,  then  quite  ill,  came  in,  and 
afterwards  Mr.  Agassiz.  The  conversation  turning 


OF    CHARLES    SUMNER.  329 

to  Mr.  Sumner's  re-election,  his  friend  the  noble 
scientist,  who  passed  away  before  another  interview, 
said,  "  Of  course  you  will  be  re-elected.  Who  is  to 
be  put  against  you  ?  Your  name  is  a  weight ;  and 
there  is  no  other  which  can  outbalance  it.  ...  The 
people  are  not  to  throw  away  a  great  character  for 
slight  differences." 

A  senator,  referring  subsequently  to  some  insig 
nificant  matter,  said  to  him,  "  Mr.  Sumner,  how  will 
this  affect  your  re-election?"  "Affect  what?" 
replied  he.  "  Affect  your  election,"  said  the  other. 
44  What  election  do  you  speak  of  ?  "  said  Mr.  Sum 
ner.  "  Why,  next  year,  in  1875,  the  period  of  your 
re-election  comes  round."  "  Oh,  yes  !  "  answered 
Mr.  Sumner,  as  if  suddenly  taking  his  idea :  "  my 
re-election  will  come  round  in  1875 ;  but  I  may  die 
long  before  that ;  and  as  long  as  I  live  I  can  do  my 
duty." 

During  a  call  made  on  him  some  time  afterwards 
by  Mr.  Wilson,  he  said  with  great  earnestness,  "  If 
my  works  were  completed,  and  my  Civil-Rights  Bill 
passed,  no  visitor  could  enter  that  door  that  would 
be  more  welcome  than  death." 

Having  incurred  losses  by  the  great  Boston  fire, 
he  found  himself  in  arrearages  at  this  time  to  the 
amount  of  about  ten  thousand  dollars ;  but  instead 
of  receiving,  as  so  many  others,  "back  pay"  from 


330  LIFE    AND    TIMES 

the  public  treasury,  he  determined,  feeble  as  he  was, 
to  make  up  the  deficit  in  the  lecture-field.  He 
therefore  sent  this  letter  to  the  Boston  Lyceum 
Bureau :  — 

WASHINGTON,  13th  May,  1873. 

MY  DEAR  REDPATH, — Nobody  is  authorized  to  act  as  my 
agent ;  nor  do  I  remember  any  communication  with  the  New  - 
York  Bureau. 

I  should  like  to  lecture  next  autumn,  if  consistent  with  my 
health ;  but  this  is  still  uncertain. 

I  congratulate  you  on  your  return  home,  which  is  a  surprise. 
I  supposed  you  would  give  a  month  to  Vienna  and  the  na 
tional  honor.  Sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 

On  his  last  visit  to  Boston,  in  the  autumn  of  1873, 
his  reception  was  almost  an  ovation,  and  in  delight 
ful  contrast  with  that  of  the  preceding  year.  He 
was  greeted  everywhere  with  enthusiasm,  and 
pressed  on  every  hand  to  honor  literary  and  political 
re-unions  with  his  presence.  At  a  public  dinner  just 
before  his  last  departure  for  Washington,  he  said  in 
reference  to  Mr.  Wilson  the  vice-president,  sitting 
near  him :  "  He  is  under  the  charge  of  his  physician  : 
he  is  also  under  my  charge ;  for  his  life  is  too  pre 
cious  to  be  exposed.  I  watch  over  him  at  Washing 
ton,  and  endeavor  to  see  that  he  does  not  undergo 
unnecessary  exertion."  "But  who,"  some  one  ex 
claimed,  "  shall  guard  the  custodian  ?  "  Although  the 


OF   CHARLES    SUMNER.  381 

"  custodian  "  was  on  that  occasion  in  the  very  best 
of  spirits,  and  made  an  admirable  address,  his  health 
was  rapidly  declining ;  and  he  therefore  sent  with 
much  reluctance  this  request  to  cancel  his  lyceum 
engagements. 

COOLLDGB  HOUSE,  3d  Oct.,  73 

DEAR  MR.  REDPATH,  —  In  announcing  me  as  a  lecturer  for 
the  present  season,  and  making  engagements  for  me,  you  acted 
precisely  according  to  understanding.  I  felt  at  the  time  in 
condition  to  assume  this  heavy  work,  and  am  not  conscious 
of  any  failure  since.  But  much-valued  friends  have  repre 
sented  to  me,  that,  at  this  early  period  of  convalescence  after 
protracted  disability,  it  would  be  imprudent  for  me  not  to 
allow  myself  further  rest,  and  especially  that  I  ought  not  to 
undertake  a  series  of  engagements  so  wearying  as  that  pro 
posed. 

Had  this  representation  proceeded  from  a  few  only,  or  had 
my  friends  been  divided  or  less  strenuous,  I  should  not,  per 
haps,  have  felt  constrained,  as  I  do  now,  by  their  unanimous 
judgment  in  letter  and  conversation,  leaving  me  no  alterna 
tive.  It  is  with  much  reluctance,  and  in  obedience  to  the 
sentiments  of  those  whose  kindness  awakens  my  gratitude, 
that  I  now  withdraw,  and  ask  you  to  cancel  any  engagements 
made  on  my  account. 

Accept  my  thanks,  and  believe  me,  my  dear  sir, 
Faithfully  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNEU. 
JAMES  REDPATH,  ESQ. 

In  November  Mr.  Sumner  addressed  a  letter  to  a 
meeting  held  in  New  York,  condemnatory  of  the 


832  LIFE   AND    TIMES 

outrages  of  "  The  Virginius,"  deprecating  any 
menace  of  war,  and  advising  the  liberation  of  the 
enslaved  in  the  West  Indies. 

During  the  last  session  of  Congress,  he  opposed, 
as  usual,  any  inflation  of  the  currency,  and  advo 
cated  an  early. return  to  specie  payments.  His  last 
speech  in  Congress,  terminating  a  brilliant  sena 
torial  career  of  almost  a  quarter  of  a  century,  was 
made  on  Saturday,  the  7th  of  March,  in  the  discus 
sion  of  his  substitute  for  the  Centennial  Bill,  which 
had  passed  the  House. 

He  contended  that  the  one  hundredth  anniversary 
of  the  Republic  should  be  entirely  national  in  its 
character ;  and,  in  accordance  with  his  well-known 
patriotic  and  economical  views*  emphatically  said,  — 

"  I  have  three  earnest  desires  in  connection  with  our  coming 
anniversary :  first,  to  secure  a  proper  commemoration  of  that 
great  day,  truly  worthy  of  this  Republic,  and  characteristic, 
so  that  Republican  institutions  shall  thereby  gain ;  secondly, 
to  save  the  national  character,  which  must  suffer  if  the  pres 
ent  scheme  is  pursued;  and,  thirdly,  to  save  the  nationaj 
treasury. 

Almost  the  last  words  he  heard  pronounced  in  the 
Senate-chamber  were  those  read  by  his  colleague 
of  the  resolution  of  the  Massachusetts  legislature, 
rescinding  and  annulling  the  act  of  undeserved  cen- 


OF   CHARLES    SUMNER.  333 

sure  of  Dec.  18,  1872.  On  being  asked  if  he  should 
address  the  Senate  when  it  was  presented,  his  reply 
was,  "  The  dear  old  Commonwealth  has  spoken  for 
me ;  and  that  is  enough." 


CHAPTER     XIX. 

Mr.  Sumner's  House  at  Washington.  —  His  Love  of  Art.  —  Last 
Sickness  and  Death.  —  Obsequies  at  Washington.  —  Meeting  of 
the  General  Court.  —  Meeting  at  Faneuil  Hall.  —  Remarks  of  J. 
B.  Smith.  —  Remains  at  the  Doric  Hall. — Services  at  King's 
Chapel. —At  Mount  Auburn.  —  Personal  Appearance  of  Mr. 
Sumner. — Religious  Views. —  His  Works. — His  Style.  —  His 
Integrity.  —  His  Consistency.  —His  Statesmanship  and  Learning. 
—  His  Fame. 

"  In  the  long  roll  of  martyrs  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  the  name  of  Charles 
Sumner  shall  stand  conspicuous,  as  worthy  of  the  applause  and  reverence  of 
manhood."  —  WILLIAM  L.  GARRISON. 

"  The  dear  and  noble  Sumner !  My  heart  is  too  f nil  for  words ;  and  in  deep 
est  sympathy  of  sorrow  I  reach  out  my  hands  to  thee,  who  loved  him  so  well. 
He  has  died  as  he  wished  to,  at  his  post  of  duty,  and  when  the  heart  of  his 
beloved  Massachusetts  was  turned  toward  him  with  more  than  the  old-time 
love  and  reverence.  God's  peace  be  with  him!  " — JOHN  G.  WHITTIER. 

"  He  had  intense  sympathy  for  moral  principles.  He  was  raised  up  to  do 
the  work  preceding  and  following  the  war.  His  eulogy  will  be,  a  lover  of  his 
country,  an  advocate  of  universal  liberty,  and  the  most  eloquent  and  high- 
minded  of  all  the  statesmen  of  that  period  in  which  America  made  the  transi 
tion  from  slavery  to  liberty."  —  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER. 

|R.  SUMNER'S  house  at  Washington,  a  hand 
some  structure  with  a  fa9ade  of  brown  free 
stone,  was  built  on  an  eligible  site  subsequent 
to  1867,  and  overlooks  Lafayette  Square.     It  adjoins 

834 


The  late  Residence  of  CHARLES   SUMNER,  Washington,  D.  C. 


CHARLES    SUMNEB.  335 

the  Arlington  Hotel ;  and  the  entrance  is  near  the 
centre  of  the  broad  front.  The  sitting-room  is  on  the 
right  of  the  hall,  which  contains  an  old  Dutch  clock 
with  a  beautiful  chime.  The  parlor,  upholstered 
with  yellow  satin,  is  on  the  left,  and  above  this  Mr. 
Sumner's  sleeping-room,  which  commands  a  fine 
view  of  Lafayette  Square  and  the  White  House. 
Contiguous  to  this  room  is  the  library,  or  what  the 
senator  called  his  "  workshop." 

Of  refined  taste  and  high  culture,  Mr.  Sumner 
had  surrounded  himself  with  rare  and  exquisite 
specimens  of  the  fine  arts,  in  the  study  of  which  he 
found  a  solace  for  his  senatorial  cares.  His  rooms 
were  crowded  with  the  works  of  genius, — rare  and 
costly  books,  beautiful  paintings,  engravings,  illumi 
nated  pictures,  medallions,  statues  in  bronze  and  mar 
ble,  —  so  that  they  had  almost  the  appearance  of  a 
museum  of  art.  Among  other  paintings  in  his  bed 
room  was  a  landscape  representing  "  Ellen's  Isle," 
painted  by  a  colored  artist.  In  the  dining-room  was 
a  bas-relief  of  Christ  as  the  "  Good  Shepherd,"  taken 
from  the  Catacombs  of  Rome.  Among  countless 
curiosities  in  his  study,  there  was  a  photograph  of 
John  Bright,  plainly  framed,  which  was  once  owned 
by  Mr.  Lincoln.  Among  his  other  treasures  of  art 
were  an  "  Ecce  Homo,"  after  Guido  Reni ;  "  The  Mir 
acle  of  the  Slave,"  by  Tintoretto  (bequeathed  to 


336  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

his  friend  J.  B.  Smith);  a  portrait  by  Sir  Peter 
Lely;  and  pictures  of  the  Giotto  of  Florence, 
the  grand  staircase  of  Versailles,  and  the  fa9ade  of 
the  Louvre.  "  These  last  three  things,"  said  Mr. 
Sumner  to  a  friend,  "  are  perfect.  When  I  come 
home  from  the  senate  tired  and  cross,  I  like  to  look 
at  them :  it  comforts  me  to  think  there  is  something 
perfect  and  above  criticism."  Of  his  rarest  literary 
treasures  was  an  illuminated  prayer-book  of  Margaret 
of  Anjou,  which  cost  three  hundred  dollars.  The 
desk  in  which  he  was  struck  in  the  Senate  was  not 
the  least  interesting  of  his  curiosities. 

On  Tuesday,  the  10th  of  March,  Mr.  Sumner  in 
his  seat  in  the  Senate  complained  to  Mr.  Ferry  of 
painful  shocks  in  his  left  side :  they  soon  subsided ; 
and  in  the  evening  he  had  as  guests  at  his  table  two 
of  his  intimate  friends,  —  Henry  L.  Pierce  and  B.  Per- 
ley  Poore.  After  the  retirement  of  these  gentlemen, 
he  was  again  attacked  with  terrible  pains  in  the 
heart.  He  was  soon,  however,  somewhat  relieved 
by  his  physician,  Dr.  J.  T.  Johnson,  and  passed  a 
comparatively  comfortable  night ;  but  in  the  morn 
ing  he  was  cold  and  almost  insensible.  At  ten  o'clock 
he  recognized  Judge  Hoar,  and  said,  "  Don't  forget 
my  Civil-Rights  Bill."  Observing  Mr.  Hooper  near 
him,  he  exclaimed,  "  My  book !  my  book  is  not  fin 
ished."  Later  in  the  day  he  moaned,  "  I  am  so  tired ! 


OF  CHAELES   SUMNER.  387 

I  am  so  tired !  "  and,  when  Judge  Hoar  brought  him 
a  message  from  Mr.  Emerson,  he  said,  "  Tell  Emer 
son  I  love  him  and  revere  him."  "  Yes,  I  will  tell 
him,"  replied  the  judge ;  "  for  he  says  you  have  the 
largest  heart  of  any  man  alive."  The  judge  soon 
afterward  took  his  hand ;  and  at  ten  minutes  before 
three  o'clock,  P.M.,  March  11,  1874,  Charles  Sumner 
ceased  to  breathe. 

The  news  spread  instantaneously  over  the  nation ; 
and  millions  were  in  tears.  No  death  since  that  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  had  so  touched  the  hearts  of  the 
American  people.  Congress  had  already  adjourned. 
On  Friday,  March  13,  it  assembled  to  pay  tribute  of 
profound  respect  to  the  departed  senator.  The 
obsequies  were  simple  but  impressive.  The  body 
of  Mr.  Sumner,  embalmed  and  enclosed  in  a  massive 
casket,  on  which  had  been  placed  a  wreath  of  white 
azaleas  and  lilies,  and  a  branch  of  palm-leaves,  was 
lying  in  the  south  parlor  of  his  house  ;  and  the  fea 
tures  presented  an  appearance  of  dignity  and  repose. 
It  was  borne  thence,  in  a  hearse  drawn  by  four 
white  horses,  followed  by  a  body  of  about  three 
hundred  colored  men  and  a  long  line  of  carriages, 
to  the  Capitol,  where,  in  the  rotunda  beneath  the 
dome  of  that  magnificent  building,  thousands  gath 
ered  to  view  the  silent  face,  and  shed  the  parting 
tear. 

15 


338  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

At  half-past  twelve  the  casket  was  removed  to  the 
Senate-chamber,  which,  with  Mr.  Sumner's  chair, 
was  draped  in  mourning.  A  cross  of  flowers,  sent 
by  Miss  Nellie  Grant,  was  placed  upon  the  casket ; 
but  a  more  noticeable  offering  was  a  broken  column 
of  violets  and  white  azaleas,  placed  there  by  the 
hands  of  a  colored  girl.  She  had  been  rendered 
lame  by  being  thrust  from  the  cars  of  a  railroad, 
whose  charter  Mr.  Sumner,  after  hearing  the  girl's 
story,  by  a  resolution  in  the  Senate  caused  to  be  re 
voked.  In  the  presence  of  the  president  and  his 
cabinet,  the  members  of  Congress,  the  Judiciary, 
foreign  legations,  and  a  large  concourse  of  reverent 
citizens,  the  Congressional  chaplains  —  the  Rev.  Drs. 
Butler  and  Sunderland  —  appropriately  performed 
the  solemn  services. 

At  the  close  of  the  benediction,  the  president  of 
the  Senate,  rising,  said,  "  The  funeral  services  hav 
ing  ended,  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  intrusts 
the  remains  of  Charles  Sumner  to  the  sergeant-at- 
arms  and  the  committee  *  appointed  to  convey  them 

*  The  Congressional  Committee  consiste£  of  M'-  _s.  Henry  A. 
Anthony  of  Rhode  Island,  Carl  Schnrz  of  f.vlissc  ari,  Aaron  A.  Sar 
gent  of  California,  John  P.  Stockton  of  New  Jersey,  Richard  J. 
Oglesby  of  Illinois,  and  Thomas  C.  McCreery  of  Kentucky,  on  the 
part  of  the  Senate  ;  and  Messrs.  Stephen  A.  HTirlbut  of  Illinois, 
E  ugene  Hale  of  Maine,  Charles  Foster  of  Ohio,  Joseph  H.  Rainey  of 
South  Carolina,  Charles  Clayton  of  California,  Henry  J.  Scudder 
of  New  York,  Samuel  J.  Randall  of  Pennsylvania,  Joseph  B.  Beck 
of  Kentucky,  and  John  Hancock  of  Texas,  on  the  part  of  the  House. 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNER.  339 

to  his  home,  there  to  commit  them,  earth  to  earth, 
ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust,  in  the  soil  of  the  old 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts.  Peace  to  his 
ashes  !  " 

The  remains,  attended  by  a  delegation  from  Con 
gress,  arrived  by  special  train  in  Boston,  late  on 
Saturday  evening,  and  were  borne  to  the  Doric  Hall 
at  the  Capitol,  when  Senator  H.  A.  Anthony,  chair 
man  of  the  delegation,  committed  the  casket  to  Gov. 
W.  B.  Washburn  in  this  felicitous  address  :  — 

"May  it  please  your  excellency:  We  are  commanded  by 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States  to  render  back  to  you  your 
illustrious  dead.  Nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  you  dedi 
cated  to  the  public  service  a  man  who  was  even  then  greatly 
distinguished.  lie  remained  in  it,  quickening  its  patriotism, 
informing  its  councils,  arid  leading  in  its  deliberations,  until, 
having  survived  in  continuous  service  all  his  original  associates, 
hu  has  closed  his  earthly  career.  With  reverent  hands  we 
bring  to  you  his  mortal  part,  that  it  may  be  committed  to  the 
soil  of  the  Commonwealth,  already  renowned,  that  gave  him 
birth.  Take  it :  it  \  yours.  The  part  which  we  do  not  return 
to  you  is  ncc- wholly  TOUTS  to  receive,  nor  altogether  ours  to 
give.  It  belongs'  to  t  le  country,  to  mankind,  to  freedom,  to 
civilization,  to  humanity.  We  come  to  you  with  emblems  of 
mourning  which  faintly  typify  the  sorrow  that  dwells  in 
the  breasts  upon  which  they  lie.  So  much  is  due  to  the  in 
firmity  of  human  nature.  But,  in  the  view  of  reason  and 
philosophy,  is  it  not  rather  a  matter  of  exultation,  that  a  life  so 


340  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

pure  in  its  personal  qualities,  so  high  in  its  public  aims,  so  for 
tunate  in  the  fruition  of  noble  effort,  has  closed  safely  before 
age  had  marred  its  intellectual  vigor,  before  time  had  dimmed 
the  lustre  of  its  genius  ? 

"  May  it  please  your  excellency :  Our  mission  is  completed. 
We  commit  to  you  the  body  of  Charles  Sumner.  His  un 
dying  fame  the  Muse  of  History  has  already  taken  in  her  keep- 


The  body  lay  in  state,  attended  by  a  guard  of  col 
ored  soldiers  under  Major  Lewis  Gaul,  and  was 
visited  by  throngs  of  sad  and  tearful  people.  On 
Friday  afternoon,  by  a  proclamation  from  the  gov 
ernor,  both  branches  of  the  legislature  assembled ; 
and  eloquent  tributes  were  bestowed  upon  the  de 
parted  statesman  by  Pres.  George  B.  Loring,  and 
Gen.  N.  P.  Banks,  of  the  Senate,  and  also  by  Messrs. 
Phillips,  Codman,  and  Sanger,  of  the  House. 
While  the  funeral  train  was  on  its  way,  the  sorrow 
of  the  citizens  of  Boston  found  an  expression  in  a 
crowded  meeting,  held  in  Faneuil  Hall  (draped  for 
the  occasion)  at  noon  on  Saturday,  when  very  elo 
quent  and  eulogistic  speeches  were  made  by  Mayor 
S.'C.  Cobb,  Richard  H.  Dana,  jun.,  A.  H.  Rice,  N. 
P.  Banks,  William  Gaston,  Rev.  E.  E.  Hale,  and  J. 
B.  Smith,  a  noble,  warm-hearted,  and  intimate  friend 
of  Mr.  Sumner.  In  the  course  of  his  address,  he 
with  moving  pathos  said,  — 


OF   CHARLES    SUMNER.  341 

"  I  can  go  back  to  the  time  when  I  sat  under  the  eagle  in 
this  hall,  and  when  I  saw  some  one  stand  on  the  platform ;  and 
I  did  wish,  when  I  heard  certain  expressions,  that  I  could  sink. 
I  can  go  back  to  my  boyhood,  when  I  have  seen  other  boys  in 
their  sports  and  plays,  and  I  would  walk  off  in  the  woods,  and 
say,  '  O  God !  why  was  I  born  ?  ' 

"  I  can  remember  forty-five  years  ago  on  a  Christmas  Day 
passing  through  the  orchard,  and  saw  a  silk-worm  hanging  to 
the  leaf  of  a  tree,  when  my  eyes  turned  up  to  my  God,  and  I 
said,  '  Why  am  I  here  ?  '  There  hangs  something  out  in  the 
cold ;  but  it  will  be  a  butterfly.  I  took  it  home,  hung  it  in  the 
room,  put  it  where  it  was  warm ;  and  it  hatched  out  before 
the  atmosphere  was  prepared  to  receive  it.  I  lifted  the  window ; 
and  it  flew  oif,  but  had  to  return,  as  it  could  not  stand  the  at 
mosphere.  And  just  so  I  was  brought  forth  by  the  eloquence 
of  Charles  Sumner;  and  I  have  been  turned  loose  on  the  public 
atmosphere  ;  for  really  I  had  to  suffer  intensely ;  and  I  could 
only  feel  at  home  and  feel  well  when  I  turned"  back  into  his 
presence ;  and  his  arms  were  always  open  to  receive  me.  (Ap 
plause.) 

"  And  now,  Mr.  Mayor,  our  ship  in  which  he  has  com 
manded  is  still  adrift :  we  are  standing  out  now  in  the  open 
sea,  with  a  great  storm ;  and,  in  behalf  of  those  five  millions  of 
people  of  the  United  States,  I  beg  of  you  to  give  us  a  good 
man  to  take  hold  where  he  left  off.  (Applause.) 

"  We  are  not  educated  up  to  that  point.  We  cannot  speak 
for  ourselves :  we  must  depend  upon  others.  We  stand  to-day 
like  so  many  little  children  whose  parents  have  passed  away. 
We  can  weep ;  but  we  don't  understand  it.  We  can  weep ; 
but  M  3  must  beg  of  you  to  give  us  a  man  who  will  still  lead  us 
forward  until  we  shall  have  accompanied  all  those  thousands 
for  which  he  offered  his  life." 


o42  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

The  public  press  throughout  the  country  paid  gen 
erous  tributes  to  the  departed  statesman ;  and  many 
clergymen  on  the  sabbath  spoke  impressively  of  the 
national  bereavement.  The  discourses  of  the  Revs. 
Edward  E.  Hale,  Dr.  C.  A.  Bartol,  James  Freeman 
Clarke,  George  L.  Chaney,  T.  W.  Higginson,  C.  D. 
Tradlee,  J.  W.  Hamilton,  Samuel  Johnson,  James  B. 
Dunn,  Dr.  S.  K.  Lothrop,  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
Dr.  E.  B.  Foster,  were  particularly  eloquent  and 
appropriate.  It  is  estimated  that  as  many  as  forty 
thousand  people  visited  Doric  Hall  to.  view  the  re 
mains  of  the  beloved  senator.  The  room  was  elabo 
rately  draped  in  mourning  ;  and  the  catafalque  and 
casket  resting  in  the  centre  were  covered  with  most 
exquisite  floral  decorations.  At  the  head  of  the 
coffin  stood  a  beautiful  cross  formed  of  callas, 
violets,  japonicas,  and  other  flowers  ;  and  at  the  foot 
a  broken  shaft  of  roses,  covered  with  a  pall  of  violets. 
On  the  top  of  the  casket  the  colored  citizens  placed 
a  large  floral  heart,  with  this  inscription :  "  From 
the  colored  citizens  of  Boston.  Charles  Sumner, 
you  gave  us  }^our  life ;  we  give  you  our  hearts." 
Above  the  casket  was  suspended  a  crown,  beneath 
which  floated  a  white  dove  holding  an  olive-branch. 
At  about  half-past  two  o'clock  on  Monday  afternoon, 
the  remains  were  borne  to  King's  Chapel,  which  was 
tastefully  hung  in  black  and  decorated  with  costly 


The  body  of  Charles  Sumner  lying  in  state,  in  Doric  Hall,  State  House,  Boston. 


OF   CHAELES   SUMNER.  343 

flowers,  when  appropriate  funeral  services  were  per 
formed  by  the  Rev.  Henry  W.  Foote,  the  pastor. 
At  the  close  of  the  services,  the  funeral  cortege,  in 
which  there  was  a  body  of  more  than  one  thou 
sand  colored  citizens,  proceeded,  through  a  dense 
crowd  of  reverent  people,  to  Mount- Auburn  Ceme 
tery.  It  arrived,  just  as  the  sun  was  setting,  at 
the  open  grave  in  the  Simmer  lot,  on  Arethusa 
Path,  which  winds  along  the  declivity,  a  little  to 
the  westward  of  the  tower.  The  avenues,  the 
knolls,  and  hills  were  crowded  with  hushed  and 
pensive  people.  Near  the  grave  stood  the  Con 
gressional  delegation,  the  surviving  members  of  the 
class  of  1830,  H.  W.  Longfellow,  R.  W.  Emerson, 
O.  W.  Holmes,  and  other  intimate  friends  of  the 
deceased.  The  Horatian  ode,  "  Integer  vitce  sceleris- 
que  purus"  was  then  sung  by  fifty  male  voices,  ac 
companied  by  trombones ;  and,  at  the  close,  the 
clergyman  pronounced  the  solemn  words,  "  I  heard 
a  voice  saying  unto  me,  Write,  Blessed  are  the  dead 
which  die  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth:  yea,  saith 
the  Spirit,  that  they  rest  from  their  labors  ;  and  their 
works  do  follow  them."  As  the  body,  in  the  last 
beam  of  fading  day,  was  lowered  into  the  grave,  the 
grand  old  song  of  Luther,  "  Mn  feste  Burg  ist  unser 
Grott,"  arose ;  and  a  cross  and  wreath  of  rarest  flowers, 
prepared  by  the  request  of  Mrs.  Julia  Hastings,  sister 


344  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

of  the  deceased  in  California,  was  dropped  by  Miss 
Maud  Howe  upon  the  casket,  amidst  the  statuesque 
silence  of  the  surrounding  multitude,  broken  only 
by  the  reverberation  of  the  tolling  of  the  distant 
bells. 

"  God  rest  his  gallant  spirit !  give  him  peace, 

And  crown  his  brows  with  amaranth,  and  set 

The  saintly  palm-branch  in  his  strong  right  hand. 

Amid  the  conquering  armies  of  the  skies 

Give  him  high  place  forever !  let  him  walk 

O'er  meads  of  better  asphodel ;  and  be 

Where  dwell  the  single-hearted  and  the  wise,  — 

Men  like  himself,  severely,  simply  good, 

Who  scorned  to  be  ambitious ;  scorned  the  snares 

Of  office,  station,  rank  ;  but  stood  sublime 

In  natural  greatness  .  .  .  O  Eternal  King, 

O  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit !  give  him  peace." 


In  person  Mr.  Sumner  was  tall,  dignified,  and 
commanding.  His  countenance  generally  wore  a 
serious  aspect ;  and  his  deportment  was  that  of  a 
well-bred  and  courteous  gentleman.  The  whitened 
locks  and  furrowed  cheek  bespoke  in  later  years  the 
care  and  suffering  to  which  his  iron  frame  had  been 
subjected.  His  friends  are  pleased  to  fancy  that  in 
respect  to  face  and  form,  as  well  as  character,  he 
somewhat  resembled  Edmund  Burke.  Had  he  been 


OP  CHARLES   SUMNER.  345 

more  sensible  to  the  charms  of  this  visible  creation, 
to  the  harmonies  of  nature,  and  to  the  tones  of  music ; 
had  he  more  fondly  cherished  the  affections  of  domes 
tic  life,  —  his  heart  would  have  known  more  consola 
tion,  his  character  would  have  been  more  completely 
rounded  out.  But,  as  the  ancients  often  said,  "  It  is 
not  meet  that  every  good  should  be  conferred  on  one 
alone."  He  held  in  most  profound  respect  the  prin 
ciples  of  Christianity,  and  based  thereon  his  strong 
est  arguments  for  the  freedom  of  the  slave,  and  his 
expectations  for  the  future  elevation  of  the  human 
race.  To  a  friend,  referring  to  his  religion,  he  once 
said,  "  I  take  religion  differently  from  other  people  ; 
nor  have  I  much  to  boast  of,  any  way."  Just  before 
leaving  Boston  for  the  last  time,  he  made  an  address 
at  the  Church  of  the  Disciples,  "  in  which,"  says  one 
then  present,  "  with  profound  and  even  tearful  emo 
tion,  he  spoke  of  the  love  of  Christ  as  no  man  could 
speak  who  had  not  long  and  intimately  known  that 
love." 

Mr.  Sumner's  works,  published  in  elegant  style  by 
Messrs.  Lee  and  Shepard,  received  his  critical  re 
vision,  and  will  constitute  his  most  enduring  monu 
ment.  Well  could  he  say  of  them,  — 

"  Exegi  monumentum  sere  peremrius." 
His  last  book,  now  in  press,  is  entitled  "  Prophetic 


346  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

Voices  concerning  America,"  and  displays  to  great 
advantage  the  extent  of  his  historical  researches,  and 
his  anticipations  of  a  glorious  future  for  this  conti 
nent. 

The  style  of  Mr.  Sumner  is  clear  as  sunlight.  As 
the  course  of  some  majestic  river  it  flows  on,  smooth, 
full,  free,  and  harmonious.  It  is  always  elevated, 
always  earnest,  often  nervous,  strong,  and  impas 
sioned.  Every  sentence  indicates  the  man  of  cul 
ture  :  every  word  is  well  selected,  well  wrought  in 
to  the  solid  structure.  Though  insensible  to  the 
charms  of  music,  he  had  still  a  fine  rhythmical 
perception,  and  the  art  of  bringing  his  periods  to  a 
harmonious  close.  His  language  teems  with  classi 
cal  quotations,  drawn  from  the  whole  range  of 
ancient  and  of  modern  literature;  yet  they  are  so 
aptly  chosen,  as  not  only  to  illuminate  his  theme, 
but  also  to  make  some  compensation  for  his  want 
of  wit  and  humor.  Though  he  had  not  the  mas 
sive  strength  of  Webster,  the  sententious  point  of 
Wirt,  or  the  matchless  grace  of  Everett,  he  still 
excelled  them  all  in  learning,  in  earnestness,  and 
in  the  grandeur  of  his  aspirations.  If,  as  Mr.  Web 
ster  has  remarked,  true  eloquence  must  exist  in  the 
man  and  the  occasion,  then  will  Mr.  Sumner  ever 
stand  forth  as  the  great  orator  of  emancipation  in 
America. 


OF  CHAKLES   STJMNER.  847 

As  a  statesman  he  was  incorruptible.  Intrenched 
in  his  integrity,  no  money,  gift,  nor  bribe  could  move 
him.  Deep  in  his  heart  he  held  that  "  honesty  is 
the  best  policy :  "  he  proclaimed  this  doctrine,  and  he 
practised  it.  Amidst  the  strategic  arts  for  power, 
the  venality,  the  duplicity,  the  gloat  and  greed  for 
greenbacks,  which  characterize  political  life  at  Wash 
ington,  he  bore  a  clean,. unsullied  palm.  No  Credit- 
Mobilier  scheme,  no  annexation  plot,  no  "  back-pay  " 
subterfuge,  could  tempt  him  from  his  stronghold. 
"  Is  it  right?"  not  "  Will  it  pay  ?  "  was  with  him 
the  first,  the  central,  and  the  last  question.  "  People 
speak  of  Washington,"  he  once  naively  said,  "  as 
being  corrupt.  I  have  lived  there  many  years  ;  and 
I  have  seen  no  corruption."  His  condemnation  and 
exposure  of  the  corruption,  and  the  connivance  at 
corruption,  of  the  government,  demand  the  gratitude 
of  the  people ;  and  his  great  name  will  ever  plead, 
as  the  names  of  Lincoln  and  of  Washington,  for 
integrity  in  the  head  of  the  nation. 

No  man  was  ever  more  consistent  in  his  political 
career.  While  so  many  others  trimmed  the  sail,  and 
veered  with  every  shifting  wind  or  current  to  the 
popular  course,  he  pressed  onward-  by  an  undeviating 
line,  though  lightnings  flashed  around  his  head,  to  the 
attainment  of  his  end.  His  defection  from  the  Re 
publican  party  was  but  the  logical  result  of  his  adher- 


318  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

ence  to  his  principles,  or,  in  other  words,  of  his 
consistency.  True  as  steel  to  duty,  he  expected  every 
other  man  to  do  his  duty ;  and  hence  sometimes  he 
seemed  imperious  in  his  exactions ;  but  his  desire  was 
never  to  repress,  but  to  bring  others  up  to  his  own 
position.  He  raised  his  head  above  the  murky  atmos 
phere  of  the  demagogues  at  the  Capitol ;  and  hence 
they  hated  him.  But  the  world  will  some  day  reach 
his  level.  "  No  man,"  says  Mr.  Whittier  in  a  recent 
letter  to  me,  "  had  ever  warmer  friends ;  and  no  man 
was  ever  truer  in  his  friendships  ;  "  but  those  friends 
breathed  with  him  the  upper  atmosphere.  Congress 
has  had  men  of  originality  and  wit  more  brilliant,  but 
none  of  industry  more  persistent,  or  scholarship  more 
profound.  His  rank  will  be,  not  among  the  poli 
ticians,  but  among  the  unspotted  and  prophetic  states 
men  of  the  country.  He  spoke,  even  on  subordinate 
questions,  as  if  the  whole  world,  and  not  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Senate  only,  were  his  audience.  Before 
the  march  of  modern  ideas,  slavery,  perhaps,  without 
his  aid,  would  soon  have  fallen  ;  but  it  became  his 
province  to  bring  the  liberal  thoughts  of  the  Old 
World  and  the  New  to  illumine  the  question,  to 
strike,  with  weapons  which  no  other  Congressman 
possessed,  and  with  the  force '  of  a  God-sustained 
combatant,  the  brutal  system  through  and  through, 
up  to  its  final  overthrow.  His  affluence  of  learn- 


OF   CHARLES   SUMNEB.  349 

ing,  outflowing  in  allusions  and  quotations  which 
his  opponents,  while  denouncing,  did  not  hesitate 
to  borrow,  was  consecrated  to  the  high  and  ultimate 
purpose  of  his  life,  —  the  liberation  and  the  civiliza 
tion  of  the  captive ;  and  it  was  no  dishonor  to  the 
nation  that  it  had  one  man,  at  least,  in  its  highest 
council-chamber,  who  could  speak,  and  who  did 
speak,  Greek.  "  He  consecrated  himself,"  wrote  Mr. 
Garrison  to  me  the  other  day,  "  to  the  cause  of  im 
partial  liberty  and  equal  rights  with  a  vigilance,  an 
ability,  a  thoroughness,  and  a  devotion,  that  cannot 
be  too  highly  extolled  by  the  historian."  On  the 
record  of  the  grandest  movement  of  the  age,  cul 
minating  in  the  dominion  of  right  over  wrong,  in 
the  liberation  of  millions  from  thraldom,  and  in  the 
establishment  of  freedom  over  this  broad  continent, 
his  name  will  ever  stand  conspicuous.  It  will  be 
enshrined  in  the  breast  of  the  freedman  as  the  word 
of  God  in  the  ark  of  Moses  ;  and,  on  the  banner  that 
waves  above  the  incorruptible,  it  will  be  surrounded 
by  an  aureole  of  glory.  Wherever  in  this  wide 
world  a  human  heart  quivers  beneath  the  rod  of 
the  oppressor,  it  will  derive  hope  and  inspiration 
from  the  fearless  utterances  of  this  illustrious 
champion  in  defence  of  civil  rights,  equality,  and 
fraternity. 

Passing  by  the  stately  mausoleum  of  titled  gran- 


350       LIFE  AND   TIMES  OF  CHARLES   SUMNER. 

dcur,  the  sons  and  daughters  of  freedom  will  come 
with  reverent  step  from  every  clime  to  cast  a  chaplet 
of  white  lilies,  and  to  shed  the  tear  of  gratitude  over 
the  grave  of  CHARLES  SUMNER. 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX. 


MR.    SUMNER'S   WILL. 

THE  necessary  petition  for  the  probate  of  the  will  of  Mr.  Sumner 
was  filed  yesterday  afteinoon  by  Francis  V.  Balch,  and  will  be  acted 
on  at  the  regular  session  of  the  court,  which  sits  on  Monday,  April  6. 
The  will  is  written  wholly  by  himself,  in  a  handwriting  at  once 
bold,  clear,  and  distinct.  Each  page  bears  his  signature,  the  name 
being  written  in  the  lower  right-hand  corner,  after  the  manner  of 
the  old-style  books,  and  evidently  written  as  each  page  was  finished. 
The  sheets  are  bound  together  at  the  top  by  a  delicate  purple  ribbon. 
Not  a  blot  or  erasure  is  discernible  on  the  pages  of  the  will;  but  the 
outside  is  much  soiled,  as  if  it  had  been  used  when  partially  folded 
to  brush  ink-stains  from  his  desk.  It  is  in  full  as  follows,  says  "The 
Advertiser:"  — 

THE  LAST  WILL  AND  TESTAMENT    OF    CHARLES    SUMNER    OF    BOSTON, 
MASSACHUSETTS. 

1.  I  bequeath  to  Henry  W.  Longfellow,  Francis  V.  Balch,  and 
Edward  L.  Pierce,  as  trustees,  all  my  papers,  manuscripts,  and  let 
ter-books,  to  do  with  them  what  they  think  best,  with  power  to 
destroy  them,  to  distribute  them  in  some  public  library,  or  to  make 
extracts  from  them  for  publication. 

2.  I  bequeath  to  the  trustees  above  mentioned  $3000,  or  so  much 
as  may  be  needed  to  complete  the  edition  of  my  speeches  and  papers, 
should  the  same  be  unfinished  at  my  death.    It  is  hoped  that  no 
part  of  this  sum  will  be  needed. 

353 


354  APPENDIX. 

3.  I  bequeath  to  the  library  of  Harvard  College  my  books  ami 
autographs,  whether  in  Washington  or  Boston,  with  the  understand 
ing  that  duplicates  of  works  already  belonging  to  the  college  library 
may  be  sold  or  exchanged  for  its  benefit. 

4.  I  bequeath  to  the  city  of  Boston,  for  the  Art  Museum,  my  pic 
tures  and  engravings,  except  the  picture  known  as  "The  Miracle  of 
the  Slave,"  with  the  injunction  that  the  trustees  shall  do  with  them 
what  they  think  best,  disposing  of  all  for  the  benefit  of  the  Museum. 

5.  I  beqTieath  to  my  friends  of  many  years,  Henry  W.  Longfel 
low  and  Sarmiel  G.  Howe,  my  bronzes,  to  be  divided  between  them; 
also  to  Henry  \V.  Longfellow  the  Psyche  and  that  bust  of  the  young 
Augustus,  in  marble;  to  my  friend  Joshua  B.  Smith  the  picture 
known  as  "  The  Miracle  of  the  Slave; "  and  to  the  city  of  Boston,  for 
the  Art  Museum,  the  bust  of  myself  by  Crawford,  taken  during 
my  visit  to  Rome  in  1839. 

G.  I  bequeath  to  the  daughters  of  Henry  ~W.  Longfellow  $2000 ; 
also  to  the  daughters  of  Samuel  G.  Howe  $2000;  and  to  the  daugh 
ters  of  James  T.  Furness  of  Philadelphia  $2000 ;  which  I  ask  them 
to  accept  in  token  of  my  gratitude  for  the  friendship  their  parents 
have  vshown  me. 

7.  I  bequeath  to  Hannah  Richmond  Jacobs,  only  surviving  sister 
of  my  mother,  an  annuity  of  $500,  to  be  paid  by  my  executor  for 
the  remainder  of  her  life. 

8.  I  direct  my  executor  to  make  all  provision  for  perpetual  care 
of  my  mother's  lot  at  Mount  Auburn. 

9.  I  bequeath  to  the  president  and  fellows  of  Harvard  College 
$1000,  in  trust,  for  an  annual  prize  for  the  best  dissertation  by  any 
student  of  the  college  or  any  of  its  schools,  undergraduate  or  grad 
uate,  on  universal  peace,  and  the  methods  by  which  war  may  be 
permanently  suspended.      I  do  this  in  the  hope  of   drawing  the 
attention  of  students  to  the  practicability  of  organizing  peace  among 
nations,  which  I  sincerely  believe  may  be  done.    I  cannot  doubt 
that  the  same  modes  of  decision  which  now  prevail  between  indi 
viduals,  between  towns,  and  between  smaller  communities,  may  be 
extended  to  nations. 

10.  All  the  residue  of  my  estate,  real  and  personal,  I  bequeath 


APPENDIX.  855 

and  devise  to  my  executor,  in  trust,  to  be  sold  at  such  time  and  in 
such  way  as  he  shall  think  best,  the  proceeds  to  be  distributed  in 
two  equal  moieties,  as  follows:  One  moiety  to  be  paid  my  sister 
Julia  Hastings,  wife  of  John  Hastings  of  San  Francisco,  Cal., 
for  her  sole  and  exchisive  use,  or,  should  she  die  before  me,  then  in 
equal  portions  to  her  three  daughters  or  the  survivor,  each  portion 
to  be  for  the  sole  and  exclusive  use  of  such  daughter.  The  other 
moiety  to  be  paid  to  the  president  and  fellows  of  Harvard  College, 
in  trust,  for  the  benefit  of  the  college  library,  my  desire  being  that 
the  income  should  be  applied  to  the  purchasing  of  books  relating  to 
politics  and  fine  arts.  This  bequest  is  made  in  filial  regard  for  the 
college.  In  selecting  especially  the  library,  I  am  governed  by  the 
consideration  that  all  my  life  I  have  been  a  user  of  books,  and,  hav 
ing  few  of  my  own,  I  have  relied  on  the  libraries  of  friends  and  on 
public  libraries ;  so  that  what  I  now  do  is  only  a  return  for  what  I 
have  freely  received. 

11.  I  appoint  Francis  V.  Balch  executor  of  this  will,  and  desire 
that  the  trustees  of  my  papers  may  be  exempt  from  giving  bonds. 

In  testimony  whereof  I  hereunto  set  my  hand  this  second  day  of 

September,  1873,  at  Boston. 

CHARLES  SUMNEK. 

Signed  and  published  by  the  administrator  as  his  last  will  and 
testament,  before  us,  who,  in  his  presence  and  in  the  presence  of 
each  other,  have  at  his  request  set  our  names  as  witnesses. 

H.  J.  EDWARDS. 
GEORGE  A.  BULLEN. 
JOHN  E.  HECKTEK. 
F.  V.  BALCH. 


356  APPENDIX. 

EPITAPH. 

HUM  ANITAS    JUSTITIAQUE 
MAEBENT   ET   MAEBEBUNT 

TE, 

SUMNER  JUSTITIAE   CULTOB  EXIMIUS, 
JUSTITIA   OB   VITAM    PUBISSIMA 

INTEB   SOBDIOBES 
HUM  ANITAS   UT  TIB!  NUSQUAM 

ALIENA 

TU  FINE  LABOBUM 
IMMOBTALIS    INITIO 

GAUDEAS 

TALI  MOBTE 

TALE   SUPEESTITE   NULLO. 

FELIX  FAUSTUS   FORTTJNATUS 

GLOEIA  BESUBGENS 
AVE. 

The  following  may  be  given  as  nearly  a  literal  translation: 

HUMANITY  AND  JUSTICE 
MOUBN  AND  WILL  MOUBN 

THEE, 

O   SUMNER,   MOST  BENOWNED  FOSTEBEB 

OF  JUSTICE! 
JUSTICE  ON  ACCOUNT  ON  THY  MOST  PUBE  LIFE 

AMONG  THE  BASE; 

HUMANITY  IN  THAT  SHE  NEVEB  WAS  A  STBANGEB  TO  THEE. 
THOU  EEJOICEST  IN  THE  END  OF  LABOBS  AND  THE 

BEGINNING  OF  IMMOBTALITY. 

O  HAPPY,  BLESSED  AND  FORTUNATE  ONE, 
IN   SUCH  A  DEATH  THAT  NONE   LIKE   THEE  BEMAINS, 

EISING  TO  GLOBY, 
HAIL! 


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